A Chopper pilot called chuck

by batty02

Chuck the helo revised and expanded with the wonderful help of esardi Casey goes hunting Sarahs on the war path, Beckmans pissed off and chuck is a flyboy

6. Chapter 6

an/ Hey everyone sorry about the delay but ive been missing the Grizzly's walking around campus and im sure they are not interested in me and my M&M addiction. how ever i have not met .

Mr. Bear= 8-9 foot 2500lbs of omnivorous looking for a snack wither its chickens or trying to get into the kitchen through the doggy door, its something i don't want to meet face to face would you?
last year we had a bear running down the main street doing 35mph at a gallop keeping up with traffic and the funny thing is he ran right infront of the police station and the speed limit is posted 30mph.

i was going to let chapter six be the villains chapter you know everyone gets they're 5 minutes in the spotlight and be done with it, but ESARDI asked if i could let him take up the challenge of doing the villains so i let him and this was going to be 40k chapter but we decided to split it. so you get two for the price of one. one other thing This is pure Esardi i made two or three comments on what to be expanded but that's it. It has been a Honor to work on this project with him i never know what his mind is going to pop out but its always gold. And to entice your appetites he has agreed to work on another project with me so now a word from a person who i can now call a friend.

i dont own chuck, the bears, the USCG or anything else thanks for reading and i read the reviews for more ideas and how and what the good people of the net want so leave a review and tell us how we did and thank you esardi for taking a one shot and turning it into an adventure.

batty 02

AN/ From esardi, just wanted to let you all know that it has and continues to be a pure pleasure working with Batty. We have for several weeks spoken about what to do with Shaw. Readers and writers hate this guy, me included. However, I have always been curious about what made this guy tick, why Eve was such a hot button issue. The show gave us a small glimpse of that. We decided to really tackle that aspect in the next two chapters. It is a risk because of the possible backlash. All we can promise is to give you a view of this subject that no one has ever given before. Please let us know what you think about our efforts and remember there is a part 2 coming in the next chapter.

Chapter 6 A Chopper Pilot called Chuck

Final Goodbyes

It had been only two days since Chuck had been released from the hospital, but he felt an obligation as he drove Sarah and himself to the Star of the Sea chapel. That was where the services would be held for Petty officer Troy Cooper, and Lieutenant Andrew Jones, they had been unable to find Petty officer Patrick Jones body.

It was a cold and rainy Friday afternoon. Chuck was dressed in his Formal Dress Blue uniform of the Coast Guard. Sarah thought he looked quite handsome and frankly that is why they were late for the services. She was wearing a black pants suit and jacket suitable for the event.

As she got out of the car she shivered, "Oh my god Chuck how did you survived this!" He quickly placed an overcoat over her and snaked his arm around her waist. Sarah clung to him like her life depended on it.

He sadly turned to her and whispered, "Honestly Sarah I don't know."

As Chuck walked in it was like someone had hit the alarm on the right side of the chapel. There they were his friends, his family, his brothers. It surprised him because he was not expecting them there. As usual it was Casey's little snide remark that began the needling.

"Well if it isn't Mr. and Mrs. Walker. Glad you could join us. Frankly Chuck I am surprised that Sarah let you dress or make it out of the house for that matter." There was giggling going around the area.

Sarah glared at Casey and Chuck smiled and shook his head. What could he say; Casey had been pretty close to the truth in his own annoying way. The guys surrounded Chuck like he was a rock star, giving him light slaps on the back and firm handshakes while Sarah got hugs and peeks on the cheek.

It was a weird setting. On one side was a bunch of Coast Guard men and their families and on the other a bunch of NSA guys with a CIA Agent and one Lieutenant Commander that stuck out like a sore thumb. Chuck had spotted the Base Commander Captain Hester; he wanted to acknowledge him out of respect. He whispered to Sarah, "I will be right back."

"Hurry I am getting cold."

Chuck smiled sat back down and gave her a very affectionate hug. "Better."

"Um hmm much."

Jim Henderson groaned behind them, "Oh my god I think I am going to be sick."

Mike Henderson who had his shoulder wrapped like the mummy said, "At least all they are doing is hugging. Please Chuck I am an injured man you do not want me to get mentally damaged as well.

Chuck snapped back, "What do you mean get mentally damaged, that has been established a long time ago. By the way what are you doing out of the hospital, you were shot for god's sake."

Before Mike could say anything Jim intervened. "They kicked him out. It was either that or buy ear muffs, he just would not kept his mouth shut and was driving the staff crazy."

"Hey I have needs." Said Mike.

Chuck shook his head and smiled warmly. As he was moving through the seats Dickerson could not help himself and grabbed Chuck's hand. "Oh Chuck I am cold, can you hug me too." He said in his best girl voice. There were several guys that broke out in laughter.

"Don't listen to them honey they are jealous." Said Sarah. "But come back soon I need my Chuck blanket."

Samuelsson made a whip sound, "Totally whipped."

Chuck smirked, "Says the man who writes his wife every day."

"Oh burned!" Said Diaz.

Samuelsson responded, "Shut up."

Chuck finally made it over to the Captain and saluted. After saluting back the Captain smiled at Chuck, "I was afraid your crowd would not let you make it over."

"The Coast Guard are my guys too."

"As much as you don't want to admit it Chuck, those gentleman over there are your family. It is clear for all to see."

Chuck was a little embarrassed, the guys were having fun with Sarah and she was giving back as good as she got.

"Sir I hope you realize that we mean absolutely no disrespect. It is just that our job is very dangerous and our teams do not know if their next mission will be their last. They celebrate life as much as morn the dead."

"You do not even realize what you said right now do you?"

"Sir?"

"When you talked about the NSA teams you referred to them as 'we' or 'our.'"

Wanting to change the subject Chuck asked, "Sir could you direct me to Troy Cooper's family?"

Captain Hester pointed to the little old couple silently in the corner. Chuck walked over to the couple and introduced himself.

"I am very sorry for your loss Mr. and Mrs. Cooper. Troy was a fine young man. He always tried his best to save lives. He died doing just that. I am very proud to have known him."

Mrs. Cooper glassy eyed spoke. "You were the young Officer that was with him when he died."

"Yes ma'am I was."

"Thank you."

"For what ma'am?"

"For being there to comfort him when he needed someone. What you did was the most decent thing I ever heard off. You are truly one of a kind."

Chuck was kind of in shocked that Cooper's parents knew so much of what had happened, but most of all his heart broke for Troy's parents.

"Ma'am one of the things that will haunt me for the rest of my life was not being able to save Troy. He died in my arms but I want to tell you that his last thoughts were of you. Yes we will mourn his death today but I need you to do me a favor."

"What is that young man?"

"That when you leave here today you celebrate his life. He turned out to be a fantastic human being, someone to be proud of and it was all because of you." He gave Mrs. Cooper's a hug and shook Mr. Cooper's hand. When he turned around he saw Blue and Sarah who had been standing behind him.

With the emotion that he had never seen before, Blue placed both hands on either side of shoulders and looked at him straight in the eyes and said, "Never change Chuck, never change."

Chuck was very emotional at that moment as well. "How can I, my brother won't let me." and they embraced like family. "Thank you for everything Blue." They broke the embrace and nodded to each other in a knowing way.

As Blue passed Sarah he whispered, "Don't let him go Sarah."

She smiled at him, "I have no intentions to Blue."

As Chuck walked up to her, Sarah said, "I was missing my Chuck blanket."

"I do apologize, I have neglected my duties." He placed his arms around her and sat down. He then whispered to Mike and Jim. "You see that older couple in the corner." They both nodded. "They are the parents of Troy Cooper."

They had all been wondering why the Chaplin had not shown up yet, that all changed when The Chaplin walked in with General Beckman on one side and Rear Admiral Stevens on the other side. All military personal stood including Chuck and saluted, they saluted back and sat down with their groups.

As the Chaplin Lieutenant Shaw passed Chuck and Sarah, she smiled and nodded to both of them. Beckman leaned forward and said to them, "We will hold a briefing after the service."

The service began and Beckman viewed the scene before her. 'There is no way that I will get Bartowski to agree to upload 2.0. The way Sarah is holding him would tell a blind man that she will not allow it."

Sarah for her part had tensed up considerably when she saw Beckman. She was still very pissed at her for not letting Sarah know where Chuck was. The Bryce hell would haunt her sleep for a while.

After the sermon they all filed out and Chaplin Shaw greeted and thanked everyone that attended. When Chuck and Sarah greeted the Chaplin Chuck said, "It was a wonderful sermon. Thank you I know that it will help the families heal."

"How about you, will it help you heal Lieutenant Commander?"

Chuck looked down and swallowed hard. There really had not been that much discussion of what had happened. When he spoke his voice started to tremble and break. "I…I guess it will take me a little longer."

"You have a strong support group;" Lieutenant Shaw was speaking to Chuck but looking at Sarah when she said this. Then she turned her attention back to Chuck. "However, if you ever need someone to talk to, please come and see me."

"Thank you."

Mike and Jim stopped Mr. and Mrs. Cooper on their way out. "Ma'am, sir, my name is Mike Henderson; I was with your son when he died. I want to let both of you know that your son saved my life. It was because of his willingness to step in front of a man pointing a gun at me that I stand before you."

"Your son was a hero and I will be eternally grateful to him for the rest of my life."

Jim jumped in, "Ma'am, sir, while I may have not been there, I will also be eternally grateful to your son. Mike and I are the only family we have. If I had lost him I would not know what to do. I can only imagine what pain you are going through right now. If my brother and I can help you in any way please let us know and we will do it."

Mrs. Cooper was an emotional wreck but with her hands trembling she reached out and gave both brothers a peck on the cheek. "Thank you for your kind words it really means a lot to us that our son was held in such high esteem."

Finding Daniel Shaw

The General's SUV's was waiting for them. Chuck felt a hand on his arm; General Beckman was looking at him.

"Thank you for what you did out there Chuck."

"If it was not for the training I received from our guys we would not be talking now."

"Still what you did out there was just..."She shook her head. "It is what heroes are made of. Ride with me Lieutenant Commander."

Chuck looked at the General and back to his vehicle. "Don't worry Chuck give your keys to this Agent and he will drive your vehicle to were our briefing will be held."

Chuck was really taken aback by her comments. He was about to go into the SUV when he turned and held out his hand to Sarah who quickly came to his side.

Diane Beckman has always been a tough as nails type of Director. However, even she knew that there was going to have to be some peace between her and Sarah if they were going to work together.

"Agent Walker, Sarah, I fully comprehend that you are not very happy with me right now. However, I hope that you also realize that there was never any real intend to cause you harm."

"General I will admit that I would never want your job. Having to worry about the country while dealing with decisions like the intersect would keep me up at night. However, keeping me from knowing where Chuck was when you knew how desperately I was looking for him is inexcusable!" Sarah's voice kept getting louder as she spoke to the General.

"Sarah tell me the truth, if I had let you know where Chuck was would you have completed your assignment?"

Sarah thought for a moment, "No I would not."

"Now you understand why I could not give you that information."

"General the Intersect 2.0 was a failure from the very beginning, Bryce was never able to handle the Intersect. It was defective and it turned a smug asshole like Bryce into an egotistical maniac."

"Alright Sarah what can I do to make it right?"

"Well we need to work together and make sure that Chuck is safe."

Chuck gave Sarah that look that screamed, 'I am no one's Asset I can take care of myself.'

Sarah could read Chuck like a book and knew she needed to explain herself. "Chuck I have never been good with words you know that. Sometimes Agent Walker will make an appearance and she has a tendency to put her foot in her mouth. Therefore, when I say you need protection I mean keeping what you already have."

She then turned to the General. "When Chuck goes up on his Helicopter no matter if it is on a strike mission or rescuing people, I want to be there. Everywhere he goes I am there. If you allow me to provide that assistance it will go a long way to repairing our relationship."

"You will have to become a member of the NSA; will you have a problem with that?"

"No it won't. The only stipulation is that I only work with Chuck and his team and that there is no interference with our relationship."

"I can live with that, however; you will have to officially resign from the CIA. Can you handle being away from Chuck for a couple of days?"

She turned to Chuck and cupped his face, "Can't he come with me?" Sarah definitely did not want any kind of separation from Chuck.

Before the General spoke Chuck grabbed Sarah's hands and said, "Sarah you know I love you right? One day I want to make you my wife." Sarah heart swelled when she heard that. "However, you have to stop treating me like your asset."

"I am not doing that at all Chuck."

"Sarah please did you just not listen to yourself and your litany of demands. It was not Sarah Walker wanting a position with our team and working together. It was Agent Walker demanding to protect her Asset."

"Chuck, how could you say that!"

He squeezed her hands to make sure they looked into each other's eyes. "Sarah can you honestly look at me and tell me that is not exactly what you were doing right now?"

Sarah Squirmed uncomfortably in her seat. Chuck had nailed her and he knew it. "Don't you want to be together?" She said defensively.

"Of course I do my love, more than anything. But I want us to be partners, I want to be treated like an equal can you do that my love? Can I stop being your asset and become your partner?"

Sarah was taken aback at how strong Chuck was now. This was not the man she had met four years ago. She realized at that moment her baby sitting duties were over. The man before her was capable of not only protecting himself but her as well. The conviction in his voice said it all. "Yes…yes Chuck I will do that."

"Alright than that means that you will be part of the rotation of NSA Agents that accompany me when I am on SAR missions. It also means that when we go on NSA strikes you are a member of the strike team and will be partners with Casey as he leads our team. It will also mean that you will be there for me if someone decides to bring that annoying Chopper down and I will be there for you if someone tries to hurt you. I want you to be able to count on me like you can count on any of these strike team members. I will be as fanatical about your safety as you are mine."

He held her close and said "Once long ago you asked me to trust you Sarah and I did. Now I want you to trust me, please say you will."

"I trust you Chuck." Sarah whispered back. They held each other and kissed tenderly right in front of the General.

Beckman was completely floored. In all her years she had never seen anything like that. Chuck Bartowski had completely disarmed the wild card enforcer and made her putty in his hands. Yep, the weak nerd that Diane Beckman used to deal with was long gone and in his place stood a man who knew what he wanted and was not afraid to ask for it. She finally cleared her throat.

"Sarah he needs to finish what we started. Shaw has to be found and dealt with. It is imperative that this becomes our number one priority."

Sarah was still speechless after what had transpired and barely acknowledged the General with a slight nod.

They arrived at the hanger and met the rest of the group.

"Gentlemen we have a serious problem," A picture of ex-CIA Agent Daniel Shaw came up. "He is responsible for the theft of six nuclear warheads. Until he ran into the Lieutenant Commander his success rate had been unmatched. Obviously he has a secret base nearby; we are trying to find it. We are going to need our best group to find and destroy this base. You are all the best of the best. I have never had such a successful group since that team I had in Burbank. The funny thing is that team is reunited again. Agent Walker, Colonel Casey and Lieutenant Commander Bartowski were the best team this nation ever had, their success rate was the best anyone had ever seen until the formation of this team. Now I once again I need your assistance in bringing down a threat that could jeopardize our nation, our freedom, our way of life. I am going to demand that you give me your very best effort to stop this threat."

As the General was speaking, C-130's and Apache helicopters were crisscrossing the area to see if they could find the secret base that was hiding Daniel Shaw and his men.

"Air Station Kodiak this is 5724 on Tac 1 over."

"5724 this is Air Station Kodiak over."

"Roger Station operations normal, we are approximately 3 nautical miles from the contact point we are commencing search patterns for any ground anomalies and proceeding inland, over."

"Roger 5724."

"Understood commencing search patterns 3 NM from the contact point."

"Station out."

Shaw's secret Base

"They are coming around again."

Shaw shook his head. It had been like this for the last four days. 'They are sure persistent.'

He walked over to his room opened a bottle of wine and inhaled the aroma, that act alone elicited so many memories. He sat down in his bed took off his jacket and tie and lay in his bed with an arm behind his back. He sipped his wine and looked at a picture of Eve and himself smiling and looking at each other with love in their eyes.

He placed his glass down and took the picture from the nightstand. He lay down again and viewed the picture tracing Eve's face with his finger. He closed his eyes and started reminiscing.

Home Grown Monster

Austria November 2003-Black Briar Operation

Daniel Shaw gritted his teeth as he pushed forward with everything he had. He was panting and was being slowed down by a bullet in his left shoulder and a large flesh wound in his leg. His heavy breathing was marked by the freezing rain that was falling that November night. 'Just two more blocks and I will reach the Marriott.'

Shaw could not believe that the operation had gone so wrong. An entire team of seven CIA agents including him had been assigned to take down Bruno Groer and his American contact Thomas Stratton. They were big time counterfeiters specializing in 20's and 50's dollar denominations. Somehow they had gotten a hold of the original plates and were mass producing them at an alarming rate.

Agent Ryker had been their contact for the operation and he had been most helpful. The meeting was at a warehouse. All agents were aware that Groer would have at least eight to ten men with him. There was over fifty million in that warehouse according to Ryker, if the deal with Stratton went through than Groer planned to flood the market with this fake currency. The scary part was that the counterfeit bills were so good they could pass just about every test available. The paper was first grade and Groer had been promised 30 cents on the dollar, a price that was nearly unheard off.

What complicated matters the most was this Stratton character. He seemed to have an endless amount of funds available to make this transaction happen. He belonged to some organization calling themselves the RING. Shaw had never heard of this organization but they seem to have their act together and the two agents that had been assigned to follow Stratton had mysteriously disappeared.

When they went in guns drawn it had been the perfect execution. They had the drop on the bad guys who were completely caught by surprise or so Shaw thought.

"Freeze you are all under arrest." Agent in Charge Edgar Dane said. Daniel could kick himself now thinking about it. It was all too easy; they gave up without a fight. His sixth sense kicked in but he pushed it down, ignored all the warning signals that were going off in his head. It was not until a smirking Bruno Groer turned around and mouthed "not tonight," that Daniel Shaw hit the ground. His instincts paid off as little red dots appeared out of nowhere and then the muffled sounds, followed by the screams of men hitting the floor, indicted that they had walked into an ambush.

Daniel was able to roll left get up quickly and shoot the two men in front of him. However, one of those ever present dots found him and he was slammed onto the floor as he felt the searing pain on his left shoulder. Groaning loudly he got up shot at someone high in the rafters and stumble outside the building. He was struggling to find the keys. The pinging of fire on the side of the car making him aware that he only had seconds to drive out before he was dead too. Daniel hissed loudly as a bullet came all too close and ripped the pants on his left leg. He ducked down as he started the car and drove as fast as he could out of the complex. Someone with a submachine gun stepped in front of the car, he floored the accelerator and a second later found the man hitting the windshield and rolling off the car.

Daniel was driving as fast as he could, every thought of what had transpired consuming him. He looked in the rear view mirror and sure enough there were two cars gaining fast on him. He hit the button on the left side of his Colt 45 and ejected the empty clip out. He struggled with his over coat but found another clip slid it in and locked in place with his good leg. He chamber his 45 as the bullet slid into place and concentrated on the road as he kept looking at the rear view mirror as the cars got closer.

Daniel knew he only had one chance at this. As the cars were nearly on him, he downshifted and spun the car 180 degrees, the car on the left of him shot past him. The car directly behind him was caught completely off guard. Daniel shot at the driver's side through the windshield. Two of the shots hit the driver in the face, causing him to veer right. The car hit the guard rail and toppled over into a ball of flames.

The car that had sped past him hit the brakes but spun out of control into the next lane. It was a very wet road and hitting the brakes when they were going over 100 miles an hour was a recipe for disaster. As the car ended up in the opposite lane, the driver was not fast enough to avoid oncoming traffic. A vehicle coming at you going sixty miles an hour and hitting you broad side will have a devastating effect on any vehicle. The sound of metal on metal was horrendous. Shaw had spun back around and quickly looked at the other vehicle scrunched up like an accordion.

What Shaw was not aware of was that one of the bullets had hit a fuel line and the car was losing a lot of fuel. Just six blocks away from the Marriot and the vehicle had run out of gas. So here he was now looking behind him, realizing that at any moment more cars would show up to shoot him with a bullet that had his name on it.

He finally reached his destination and was in front of the Marriott, he knew that Streetcar "2" stops in front of the Marriott Hotel and goes directly by the US Embassy. He was by this point disheveled; a little disoriented and could no longer hide the blood that was running freely down his arm. Shaw slid just inside the street car and an alarmed operator approached.

Sind Sie alle recht? German

("Are you all right?")

Daniel pointed the gun at the street car operator.

Nehmen Sie mich auf die US-amerikanische Botschaft jetzt!

("Take me to the U.S. Embassy Now!")

Bitte nicht schießen!

("Please do not shoot!")

Nichts geschehen wird, wenn sie das tun was sie gesagt!

("Nothing will happen if you do what you are told!")

Making it to the Embassy he winched when he jumped out of the moving Street Car. The Marines at the gate reacted and immediately pointed their weapons at Shaw.

"Don't move or we will shoot!"

Shaw held up his bloody hand as he slowly dropped the 45 to the ground. "Don't shoot I…I am CIA."

The guards were having none of it and quickly surrounded him. Shaw place him wounded hand behind his head looked at his coat and said, "May I?"

"No let me!" The Sergeant in charge shot back. He reached in and flipped open his credentials.

Just then a vehicle came to a screeching halt, with four agents inside and just glared at them from a block away. The Sergeant in charge said, "That for you?"

"Yea," Shaw grimaced.

"Let us go in Agent, I do not think this bunch has the balls to charge us." It was easy for the Sergeant to make that statement with two Marines pointing AR-15's at the potential targets. The car slowly left once Shaw was inside.

Once his identity was verified a doctor was called to the Embassy. The Director of the CIA Langston Graham had given specific instructions that Daniel Shaw was to be treated at the Embassy and immediately flown back to DC.

The Doctor balked. "But Sir that is inhumane."

"I do not care what you think Doctor. That Agent is to be brought back to D.C. ASAP. Am I clear Ambassador Stevens?"

"Well you have the approval of the President, however, I agree with the doctor that is inhumane. He is in a lot of pain and apparently went through hell just to make it here."

"I am sorry Ambassador, but I do not have that luxury right now."

"Very well Director he will be on a plane tomorrow."

"Thank you Ambassador, doctor, for all your assistance, your country appreciates your service."

Once Director Graham hung up the Ambassador turned to his good friend and said, "You think that Son of a Bitch meant any of that?"

The doctor smirked, "No John not a single word."

Washington D.C.

When Shaw's plane landed there were an ambulance and an escort waiting for him. They immediately took him to WALTER REED ARMY MEDICAL CENTER. Director Graham was not messing around. They stuck him in intensive care and had three agents guarding him at all times.

Daniel Shaw had been in and out of consciousness for the last two days. Finally someone had given the order to lay off the heavy duty pain killers and he was coming around slowly. He felt horrible, his shoulder hurt and his mouth felt like he had sand paper instead of saliva.

He opened his eyes and looked around and tried to get up. "Oh!" He groaned.' Man does my shoulder hurt!'

"I am glad to see you awake." Said the nurse. "I will let the Doctor know."

"Nu…nurse" He said hoarsely, "Water please."

"Oh yes, here you go, do not drink too fast, try to suck on some of the ice." With that the nurse left.

The doctor came in immediately and checked him over. "Looks like you will live." He said with a smile.

"Where am I?"

"Walter Reed."

"Water Reed a Military hospital?"

"That is right Agent." Said the doctor who was obviously CIA, otherwise he would not have called him that. "I have informed the Director and he is on his way."

"The Director wants to debrief me himself?"

"Wouldn't know about that."

Daniel could tell this doctor was deflecting. 'Typical.' He thought. "Umm... doctor can someone help me get up I need to go to the bathroom."

"Sure the nurse will be right in."

When Langston Graham showed up, he had a scowl on his face. He was not even trying to be pleasant and got right to the point. "What happened out there?"

"We were ambushed."

"Elaborate?"

"We went to 3100 Sankt Pölten as instructed. We thought that the enemy did not see us coming. Three agents came in from the back and the rest of us came through the front door. As expected Groer and his contact Thomas Stratton were holding a meeting. We told them and their thugs to raise their hands that they were under arrest, and they did."

"Wait a minute," Said Graham, "They just gave up without a fight?"

"That was the thing Director it just felt off to me. They gave up too easily. Not until Groer mouthed 'not tonight' did I realize it was a trap. I hit the ground as the red dots of the laser sight showed up all around us and they started firing. It was a massacre." Shaw got misty eyed thinking about the friends he had lost.

"Did you get the support from Agent Ryker that he was supposed to give?"

"Yes sir everything seems to have gone by the book, however; they clearly knew that we were coming, someone tip them off."

"Obviously there is a mole within our mist that needs to be flushed out."

"Director what about the counterfeit money? There was a lot of it in that warehouse."

"We sent a strike team to the warehouse however; Groer and the money were long gone. We need to shut him down, that currency could have a devastating effect on our economy."

"What can I do to help?"

For the first time Graham smiled, "You agent need rest to heal your injuries, this will take time if you include rehab. Remember Agent Shaw you will have to spend at least a month at the farm re-qualifying after rehab. I am sorry to say this but you will be down between three to six months."

"Sir is there any way to expedite this matter."

"Sorry Agent you know the rules, do not worry your job will be there when you are ready to come back." With that Director Graham got up and left.

Between fighting a small infection and getting used to doing things with one hand, Shaw did not get out of the hospital for ten days. It took another month for his shoulder to heal enough where he could with stand physical therapy. That turned out to be a joy and another six weeks later he was declared ready to go to the farm for what he knew would be a grueling two months of hard work to get back in tip top shape and ready to go back into the field.

The Farm

Daniel Shaw was dreading the farm. He briefly contemplated getting reassigned and asking for an analyst position but he just could not do it. 'Besides' He thought 'there still was some payback for what happened to the other agents.' Groer had not been caught.

He reported to the Agent in charge Samuel Landers. Shaw knocked on his door. "Agent Landers?"

"Who might you be?"

"Agent Daniel Shaw reporting sir."

"Hmm… yes Agent Shaw, you not expected to report until next week?"

"Personally sir I have been a little stir crazy and I would like to get back in the action as soon as possible."

Agent Landers was reviewing his file as Shaw was speaking. "I see that you have been out of commission for the past three months."

"That is correct sir."

"I just want to warn you that recertification will not be easy. It may be extremely difficult for you since you have not had that much physical activity since you were hurt."

"I understand all of that but I am confident in my abilities. I am also determined to get back in the field."

"Revenge is a good motivator agent; it could also lead to disastrous results."

"Understood sir."

"Do you? We shall see."

Agent Landers pressed a button. "Send in Agent Jones."

Shaw was expecting some no nonsense drill Sergeant Type, however; what he got instead floored him. Evelyn Jones was a stunning brunette. At 5'8, she was a slender but completely toned with the most beautiful set of brown eyes he had ever seen. Shaw stood there frozen for the first time in his life and he simply could not speak. Smiling at what was happening in front of him Agent Landers cleared his throat. "Agent Jones this is Agent Shaw."

It was like someone snapping their fingers in front of him as Shaw finally regained his senses. "I…mmm… Yes I am Daniel Shaw."

With a mischievous grin Evelyn snapped back, "Glad you could remember your own name."

It was like a splash of cold water to Shaw's face. He had never had a situation like this happen to him before and quite frankly it was not only new to him, Daniel did not know how to deal with it.

"Umm…sorry that was quite unprofessional of me," He extended his hand to Evelyn. "Agent Daniel Shaw ma'am."

"Evelyn Jones, I will be your trainer while you are recertifying."

"Agent Jones," Agent Landers interjected. "You may have to evaluate him as he really has not done much physically for the last three months."

Evelyn just raised her eye brow on that piece of news. She had not received much information on this agent except that he needed to be recertified. That meant that he had been hurt and this recertification could take longer than she expected.

Evelyn was used to this type of assignment, good looking male Agents with more than a week to spare not only expected to pass their recertification's quickly but make the normal seduction attempt in order to get her to bed. She had to admit that Daniel Shaw was attractive but if he thought she was an easy mark he was going to be in for a rude awakening.

As soon as they left Landers office Evelyn was all business. "Alright Agent Shaw go get changed and I will meet you at the track in ten minutes, do not be late."

Shaw kept shaking his head as he got dressed, 'What the hell just happened. I never act that way. She must think I am just some drooling idiot. Head in the game Daniel, you are here to recertify and get back in the field, that is all. Ok fine she is gorgeous and yeah I could get lost in those eyes and damn what a body! Stop it, stop it, remember why you are here.'

The first day was a total disaster. Daniel Shaw quickly found that he was way out of spy shape. He had to stop at the one mile run. He thought for sure he was going to have a heart attack. When he attempted to lift some weights he almost died and forgets about hand to hand combat. By the end of the day he could hardly move or pick up a gun and shoot it straight.

Evelyn came back with a snarky comment. "Are you sure you are an agent?"

"Ha, ha, I did not know you were a comedian as well."

"Well you better cool down and get a good message or you know what will happen tomorrow."

"Just point me in the right direction so that I could crawl there will you?"

"Have a good night agent and do not forget to drink plenty of fluids."

"Thanks." As Daniel Shaw was headed for the whirlpool he felt the first wave of a Charlie horse around his very weak shoulder. 'Oh my god, I think I am going to die!'

As the week progressed Shaw started to get his wind back and was doing much better with the weights. He was still struggling with hand to hand combat but even there he was showing flashes of quickness. "So Agent Jones, how am I doing?"

"Well you are very far from where you want to be but you have stepped it up. I say another six to seven weeks and you should be good to go."

"That long?"

"Sorry Agent Shaw but your injuries were not minor. Your body is adjusting; it will take time before you get back into spy shape."

'Crap longer than I expected.' "Ok Agent Jones I will see you next week."

For the next couple of weeks they kept going at it and Daniel Shaw was progressing nicely. He was up to five miles a day without completely dying on the track. His strength and stamina were starting to show some real improvement. He was however, having difficulty wrestling with his trainer. The hand to hand combat was bad enough but the wrestling moves that Evelyn had added towards the end of the forth week had Daniel in a very precarious position. He was sure that he could beat her. However, that professional persona that he was attempting to keep was going out the window fast whenever she started holding him close.

On the last day of the fourth week it got very heated very quickly. Evelyn was attempting a fireman's carry on Shaw who simply towered over her. Daniel grabbed her wrists and pinned her to the floor. They were perfectly aligned and in that moment something happened to let her know he was aroused. The shocked wide look on her face said it all. Embarrassed and not knowing what to do Daniel quickly got up. However, he did not think things through as a certain part of his body was displaying itself for all to see.

There were several snickers from other male and female Agents. Shaw did not know what to do with himself. He had always been under control; always cool under duress, well not this time!

"I'll…I'll see you later," Was all he could stammer out. It was perhaps the most embarrassing moment in his life.

'Why can I not control myself around her? Every time she is near me I want to kiss her. I am trying to be professional but one more touch or feel from her and I am going to lose it. God I am attracted to her, I cannot think straight. What am I going to do?'

Daniel was in the steam room for a long time, when he got out he was totally defeated. However, what he did not expect was for Evelyn to be waiting for him.

"Are you ok?"

He took a deep breath and just decided, 'What the hell.' "No Evelyn I am not."

This was the first time he had ever called her Evelyn. "I…I am sorry. Wait you know what no I am not sorry. Do you realize what you are doing to me? Every time I am near you I want to kiss you to hold you. I thought I could hold it together, but I just cannot. So please let us do each other a favor and just re-assign me with someone else please."

He was looking down expecting that at any moment he would be told off by her. "Would you like to grab a cup of coffee? I think we need to talk some more don't you?"

When Daniel looked into Evelyn's eyes what he saw there was not disgust at his behavior but something completely different. Her eyes were sparkling and she had shyness about her that she had not displayed before. "Yes talking would be good. Yes talking would be very good." His smile growing wider.

The Romance

It was a little awkward at first, each of them unsure about the other. "The last thing I would have ever expected would be to be having coffee with you or anything else for that matter."

"Daniel it is coffee not a marriage proposal."

He started laughing and so did Evelyn. "I love your smile."

"Thank you Daniel."

"Alright Eve, I mean may I call you Eve?"

"Most definitely." She smiled

"The way I see it Eve we can do one of two things. You can ask and I will support having someone else train me."

"Or," Evelyn said in anticipation.

"You can accept my invitation for dinner."

"Ok Daniel we will give it a go but do not expect anything."

"Eve, please I totally understand what you are talking about. I promise to be a perfect gentleman."

They started dating and Eve was very cautious. She had been burned before by the suave and good looking Agents and she promised herself that would not happen again. Daniel for his part started to become more opened. He joked, something unheard of before he met Eve.

Daniel Shaw had been a stuck up human being for a long time. It was hard for him at first. He was used to fine wines and expensive places to eat. He enjoyed the company of women every now and then but that was meaningless sex and nothing more. He never even bothered to stay the whole night. His life had been pretty cold and empty.

With Eve, he started doing things he never thought he would. She took him to a football game; they ate at fast food restaurants and enjoyed movie nights. Daniel started to share things with Eve he never thought he would share with anyone. Eve had been somewhat skeptical of Daniel Shaw but then when he started talking she realized that this man had passion and a sense of right and wrong that really caught her by surprise.

Daniel admitted to Eve one night, "Director Graham does not like me."

"Why Daniel?"

"The spy game is a pretty dirty business as you are well aware. However, out of everything we have to do what has always disgusted me is when they send the female Agents on seduction missions. I have pointed that out more than once to the Director and it has gotten me in trouble with him more than once."

"What do you dislike about seduction missions Daniel?"

"You approve of them?"

"No, that is not what I said."

Daniel thought for a moment and decided to share some more about his past with Eve. "I guess this is all do to my upbringing. My father left us was I was nine. My mother was still young and attractive; she tried to recapture what she had with my dad and had many boyfriends. It did something to her. She never remarried, I guess those men saw her as damaged goods. It was really sad the way it ended for her. Even though she had me, her life was unfulfilling, she died a lonely woman.

Evelyn gave Daniel's hand a squeeze and he continued. "I guess I see all those young women going on these seduction missions not understanding the consequences. It must take something out of you to do something like that with men that would normally disgust you. It must cause you to lose a piece of yourself every time you do something like that. All that training to be nothing but a CIA call girl is just not worth it."

Daniel looked at Evelyn and hoped she would get his point. He did not want her to fall into the same trap. For the first time in his life he truly cared about someone and just the thought of something like that happening terrified him.

"Well since you have been so opened with me let me share a little secret with you. The reason I am at the farm and not in the field is because of these seduction missions. I too find it degrading that our female agents have to do something like that. I could not even imagine what it would be like to have to go into deep cover and live with some disgusting man for the greater good." She said almost shivering.

"Oh god! Thank you for sharing that with me." Daniel said as he gently held her.

"You know Daniel; you are almost ready to go back out in the field. What happens then, what happens to us?"

"I have been giving that a lot of thought. This is a new relationship let us see where we go first. If we become serious then we will need to sit down and talk about our future. No doubt about it Eve I am falling for you. I have never felt like this before."

"You are not the only one. I am sharing things with you that I have kept inside me for a long time. I think you are special Daniel and you are a decent and good man. I find that to be a very attractive quality about you." Eve had been looking into Daniel's eyes the whole time, they were bright and clear and so full of...could it be love?

'Oh my god Daniel loves me!'

The side Mission

One week after Shaw returned to active duty status he was called into Director's Grahams office. "Take a seat agent Shaw."

Sitting next to him were two other Agents. Marc Silva, who he had on occasion worked with before and a pretty petite red head and fresh off the farm Agent Barbara Stone.

Daniel had seen this type of Agents before, eager to prove themselves and at some point regretting their decision.

The lights were dimed and a projector was turned on. Graham began the meeting, "The Washington Court Hotel is where this man is staying." A picture of Alberto Alvarez came into view. "Mr. Alvarez is the cousin of the leader of the Cali cartel Victor Sanchez. They have also been in contact with this man." A picture of Agent Smith was shown, "He is a Lieutenant in the Fulcrum organization."

"If you notice in this photo Mr. Alvarez is carrying with him this laptop. We have received a tip that all the transactions and point of entry of the cocaine they have been exporting are in the files on that laptop."

Langston Graham turned to Agent Stone. "Alvarez likes to eat at the restaurant at the Hotel called the Bistro 525; he then likes to have some drinks at The Federal City Bar around 8:00 PM. Your assignment is to keep him entertained for about an hour."

"Any means necessary sir?"

"Agent Stone just make sure he does not go up to his room for at least an hour."

Then he turned to the two other agents. "Agent Silva and Shaw, your assignment will be critical, one of you is to break into Alvarez's room and crack the password to his computer. You are to download all the information on it to an external hard drive. The other Agent will serve as a look out. Alvarez has two body guards with him and even though they are usually around him, they have been known to go to his room if he needs something."

Agent Silva spoke up. "Sir neither Agent Shaw nor I have that much experience cracking computer passwords."

The Director produced a CD and gave it to Silva. "Boot off this CD, The program is called ERD Commander. It will give you access to all the users in that computer and allow you to change the password to any account. Change the Administrator's password only and then reboot the computer and log in that way. You will have administrative rights to all of his files on the main drive. Copy them into this backup drive."

The Director gave them another CD. "Install this virus into the system when you are done, it is untraceable and will allow us to follow every text message or information he downloads. It also has a key logger that will allow us to know every password he uses. Any questions?"

Daniel Shaw had been quite throughout the entire briefing and was slowly stewing as he could not believe what the Director was saying and most was importantly omitting. "Yes sir I have some questions."

"What is it Agent?" Langston Graham responded, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Sir should we not inform the FBI of what we are doing?"

"Why would I want to do that Agent?"

"Sir with all due respect, by law we should not be running any operations on US soil."

"The men we are following are all international, this mission will take no longer than two hours plus and the benefits are huge." Graham looked at the other two Agents for support, however, only found Agent Stone nodding her head up and down like a fan girl. Even though these types of missions were done under the radar a little too often, under Langston Graham it had been an all too common occurrence. He had been worn more than once by the FBI Director that he would file an official protest with the head of the DNI if the practice continued.

Shaw continued undeterred by what he again thought were Langston Graham's less then honest practices. "It is not only sharing what we are up to with the FBI that has me concerned sir, I am also worried about Agent Stone."

Barbara turned to Daniel with an inquisitive eye. "Why are you worried about me?"

"Because I know Alvarez and what he is capable off. He likes to get rough with women and if you slip up and he finds out you are an Agent the consequences could be severe."

Taken a back somewhat by the fact that Graham had failed to mention this fact, Agent Stone could only stammer, "I know how to take care of myself."

"Agent Shaw," an irritated Director addressed him. "She is only going to engage him in conversation for an hour. She will be in no danger."

"Sir I would still like to recommend backup for Agent Stone."

"Request denied. Three Agents for this job is more than enough."

"Sir..."

"That will be all," Graham cut off Shaw before he could continue to protest.

Daniel Shaw had a very bad feeling about this mission, he was always been nervous when it came to seduction missions, and he had seen too many end up becoming something they were not supposed to be. Agent Stone was all too eager to make an impression and in this business it could get you killed.

The mission was basically easy. They had all they needed to complete it and get out before things could turn ugly. Daniel had seen what had happened to a female Agent that had been discovered by Alvarez, she would need a cane to help her walk. He shook his head and went to the bar.

Everyone had their ear pieces on. Daniel told Agent Stone to make sure and take the listening device off and let the two way radio on her watch take care of any listening that needed to be heard. He also told her repeatedly to switch on her tracker early just in case.

Agent Stone was flustered over all the caution he was showing her. "Agent Shaw I have had some training you know."

"It pays to be cautious."

She simply shook her head. Agent Stone was surprised that Shaw was acting this way. 'No wonder the Director does not like him.'

Shaw and Silva walked in like two friends after work wanting to share a drink. When 7:30 came around Silva stood and went to the bathroom in the restaurant area. Where he saw Alvarez eating at the Bistro as predicted. He waited until he got to the bathroom and informed Agent Stone to move into position.

About forty five minutes later Alvarez and his two body guards went to the bar. They were not paying attention to anybody; they were simply talking about the upcoming meeting with Agent Smith and the fact that they were only going to be here for another night. Silva and Shaw had gone to room 518 and were busy breaking into the room when Shaw heard through his ear piece, "Excuse me sir are you the actor Eric Estrada?"

Alvarez turned around to see a doe eyed very beautiful Barbara Stone asking as innocently as possible. Alvarez looked at her up and down as one would look at a piece of meat that you are dying to purchase. "If it gets me to know you better I will be anyone you want." He said with a predatory smile.

"Oh I am sorry I did not mean to intrude."

Agent Stone turned to leave but Alvarez grabbed her arm, "My dear I can at least buy you a drink, surely you will have one drink with me."

"I hope I am not imposing."

"Not at all."

"What will you have?"

"A Bloody Mary."

Alvarez turned to the waiter, "One-Bloody Mary for the nice young lady and a scotch on the rocks for me."

Smiling Alvarez turned and said, "Let me properly introduce myself, my name is Alberto Alvarez and you are?"

"Ester Williams," said Agent Stone as she shook his hand and kept it there a little longer than necessary. She was doing an overall good job if it had not been for some fundamental rookie mistakes. First she did not take her ear piece out, next she did not turn on her tracker and her biggest mistake she would commit next.

"So Ester what do you do for a living?"

"I am an accountant for one of the firms in DC. How about you Mr. Alvarez what do you do?"

"Oh I am in the supply and demand business. Import, export is what you call it in this country."

"An in and out business I see." The double entre was extremely obvious and made Alvarez laughed; she was following him with a giggle as well when she accidently knocked down her purse. When she went to pick it up she exposed her ear piece to one of Alvarez's body guards. He noticed it immediately got up and pretended to get a drink while he called Alvarez on the cell phone.

Looking at who was calling him he excused himself. "Boss watch out that woman has an ear piece."

"Go and get my Limo it looks like a fine night for a drive."

"Well Ms. Williams, this is my last night here in D.C. I think it will be wonderful if I had one last look at the Monument."

Agent Stone was temporarily confused but if he was leaving it would work out. "Can I give you a lift?"

Not knowing what to do, she agreed. "Sure that would be fine."

Shaw and Silva were over hearing and Daniel practically jumped out of his skin "Nooo!"

Silva stated, "You go after her! I will be fine!"

Daniel was rushing down stairs practically yelling at her not to get in the car. Agent Stone did not hear him very well as she was finally trying to remove her ear piece. She heard a muffled sound as she stepped into the curve. When she pushed the ear piece back in she heard Shaw screaming at her not to get into the car. Too late she realized her mistake.

"I am sorry I need to go to the bathroom."

"Nice try Ms. Williams," Said a sinister smiling Alvarez, as he grabbed her arm while one of his body guards pushed a gun at her side. The Limo immediately showed up and she was shoved into the passenger's seat. Shaw distinctly heard a very loud slap and scream before there was no further noise.

By the time he got downstairs they were long gone. However, the worst part was that she had not activated her tracker and he did not know what type of vehicle Alvarez had gotten into.

Daniel contacted Silva. "They are gone I will go to the van and see if she has activated her tracker!" Daniel was in a panic.

"She did not activate her tracker!"

Silva responded, "We need to get metro involved. They probably have a camera looking down the entrance. Do you know what they were driving?"

"No idea." Replied Shaw. "I will get in touch with headquarters so they could get the ball rolling." Shaw knew that every minute that passed meant that Agent Stones chances of surviving were becoming less and less.

Daniel called headquarters who contacted Director Graham. After about five minutes he saw Silva making his way out of the Hotel. Daniel drove the Van to the front and waved him over. When Silva got into the van he asked, "What is going on?"

"I called headquarters, they were in the process of contacting Graham, and I have not heard anything else."

"What the hell are they waiting for?"

Their phone buzzed and when Silva picked up it was Graham. "Report back to my office immediately."

They both did as they were told. When they went into Graham's office he was waiting there for them. "Report"

They both reported what had transpired. Shaw however, wanted to know about what they were doing to recover Agent Stone. "Have we made contact with metro? Are they assisting us? I am willing to go in and try to assist them."

"She is not your concern; we are working as fast as possible to try to recover her."

Shaw narrowed his eyes at Graham and at that moment he knew. It hit him between the eyes like a bullet and he exploded.

"You son of a bitch! There is no recovery team is there? You are covering your tracks aren't you? This was an illegal operation and you do not want them to find out. YOU DO NOT GIVE A SHIT ABOUT THAT WOMAN!"

"That is it Agent Shaw you are under suspension for insubordination!"

Silva grabbed Shaw before things became out of hand. Daniel was standing up looking like he wanted to grab his gun and shoot Graham.

"Come on Daniel let's get out of here." Whispered Silva. "Come on Daniel." Shaw finally snapping out of his rage as two agents stormed into Graham's office.

"Escort Agent Silva and Shaw out of the building. They need time to cool off." Silva just glared at Graham. "Oh before you leave Agent Silva, I will take that backup drive."

Silva handed the drive over and they both left. Daniel was breathing heavily, "That despicable son of a bitch." He muttered.

When they stepped through the parking garage Silva asked. "You need a ride?"

Daniel turned to Silva glassy eyed and said, "You know she is probably dead right?"

"I know Daniel, I know."

"I am going to walk home."

Daniel walked around lost in thought as the light shower increased. He kept imagining what that poor woman was going through. The rain was covering up the tears he was shedding. It was three in the morning when he somehow ended up at Eve's apartment complex and he knocked on her door.

Eve was startled awake by the increasing loud knocking. She peeked through the peep hole. 'Oh my god it's Daniel!'

She quickly opened the door, "Daniel what is it?"

Exhausted, shivering and broken Daniel replied, "Hold me."

Eve immediately rushed to him and pulled Daniel inside her apartment. She took the soaked over coat and started stripping him slowly. His clothes were completely wet. She stripped him down to his boxers and immediately covered him with a blanket and held him tightly as Shaw was finally comfortable laid down on the couch his head on Eve's lap and fell asleep. Eve stroking his hair softly with her fingers soon fell asleep in that position.

Eve was awakened by the buzzing sound of her alarm clock. It was six in the morning. She extricated herself from the couch and Daniel Shaw. She decided to call in sick. Daniel needed her and she was going to be there for him. After the call she turned around and there he was, all glassy eyed and exhausted.

She stripped her bath robe off to her nightgown. She held her arms open to him, "Come here." They lay on the bed holding each other and Daniel sobbed. "It's alright Daniel I am here." He cried not only for the girl that he knew was dead, but for the fear he felt at that moment. Thinking that this could happen to Eve terrified him. He held Eve like she was the most precious thing in the world. He never wanted to let go and once again, Eve's soothing hands did the trick and he fell asleep once again.

Three hours later Daniel woke up with a start. Eve looked into his eyes and softly kissed him. They took it to the next level and made love slowly and with an intensity that frankly shocked both of them. They shared a connection. Daniel felt closer to Eve than he had ever felt about anyone. 'Is this love?' He asked himself. Eve wanted to wait him out until he was ready to talk about what happened last night.

She had made him coffee and they were sitting on the couch when he had asked her if they could turn on the local news. "Well it is almost noon, so the midday news should be coming on soon."

Daniel listened intently to the news and soon he heard what he was expecting.

"In other news today the nude body of a young woman in her early twenties was found floating in the Potomac this morning. The body was discovered by boaters taking an early morning site seeing tour. Police are having a hard time identifying the victim as her face was not recognizable. If anyone has any information concerning this matter please contact the DC police."

Daniel's face tightens and he was visibly very upset. Eve caught his attention by sitting right in front of him. "Ok Daniel what is going on?"

He schooled his features and tried to get control of his emotions and told Eve everything that happened last night. He knew he was breaking protocol but he definitely did not care. After he relayed his story to Eve she sat back in her chair with a stun look in her face. "My god that is tantamount to criminal negligence."

"I agree whole heartedly."

"So what happens now?"

"They will probably parade me in front of the review board who will determine the length of my suspension."

"How long do you think they will suspend you for?"

"Knowing Graham and the fact that he wants to make an example of me, one to two months."

"That long?"

"Do not worry Eve, I had money before I came to the Agency and for three solid years I have spent very little of my salary. To tell you the truth before I met you it was one mission after the next. That one mission from Austria was the first time I have been down for any period of time." He looked at her and smiled. "Life is kind of crazy Eve, if I had not gotten hurt I would never have met you."

Eve came over cupped his face and kissed him tenderly. She whispered seductively, "We have all day today can you think of anything you like to do?"

"Hmm…decisions, decisions." He smiled wickedly. "How about this, I first take a shower and we go somewhere and have lunch. How does that sound?"

Her face showed disappointment she thought for sure her suggestion would lead to round two. He stopped at the door turned and smiled at her. "You know Eve I will need someone to scrub my back. You think you can help me?"

"I'll see what I can do," She giggled as she ran to him and assaulted his lips.

Later on that night his friend Marc Silva called. "Silva secured."

"Shaw secured."

"Did you see what happened to Agent Stone?"

"Yeah Marc I did."

Agent Silva could hear the disgust in his friend's voice but he felt compelled to tell him. The mission ended being a bust as well. "They checked their equipment and found the bug we planted on the laptop. They destroyed the equipment and flew out of the country."

"Graham did not try to arrest them!"

"If he was not willing to help an Agent in trouble yesterday what makes you think he would do that today. If there is any consolation he placed a sanction on Alvarez and his party."

"No Marc, that is not much of a consolation at all. Thanks for letting me know. "

The review board went as Shaw had expected it. They understood his frustration but what he told Graham in the heat of the moment was inexcusable in their eyes. Therefore, he received a six weeks suspension.

Clearly Graham thought that Daniel would crawl back to him begging for forgiveness, however, Daniel actually felt great, he was now going to really work on his ever growing relationship with Eve. She was the one as far as he was concerned and he wanted to show her in every way possible.

Falling in Love

They did allow Shaw to train during his suspension, they wanted him to maintain in top physical shape. That would be one of the terms of returning to field work when his suspension was over and he took full advantage of that. He worked out with Eve on the range and hand to hand combat, ran and lifted weights whenever possible with her. Of course he kept his distance when she was training someone but they always found time for each other.

Daniel would make them picnic lunches and cook for her when they did not go out. He would give her messages and help her every way he could when she had a problem with one of the recovering agents. They go shopping together, taking little trips every weekend and were really enjoying life. Eve was ecstatic at how well things were going. She never expected this nor had she ever been romanced by anyone like she was with Daniel.

He was absolutely charming, funny and only had eyes for her. He shocked her when he suggested they move in together. It had been three weeks since he had gotten suspended and Daniel Shaw was starting to realize how little he missed the CIA. When Eve said yes they moved in together at his place that was a house in Virginia boarding D.C. They went shopping for furniture and the right cook ware. He wanted her to feel at home, their home.

"Daniel you are spoiling me to death sweetheart."

"I have never felt like this about anyone Eve, I want to be your everything. You are my dream woman and now that I found you I will never let you go."

"I love you Daniel."

"I adore you Eve."

As with everything all good things must come to an end and now it was the day before Daniel had dreaded for a while. Soon he would be involved with Field assignments again and he was starting to debate if that was what he wanted to do. They were both sitting in a romantic setting looking at the sunset by the lake. They were sipping wine and nibbling on some sandwiches Eve had made. She noticed the faraway look that Daniel had.

"What are you thinking?"

"If what I do for a living is worth it?"

"I have never asked you this Daniel but when is your contract up?"

"In fourteen months Eve. To tell you the truth I wish it was already here."

"What would you do if you were not a CIA Agent?"

"I have always liked law enforcement; I don't know maybe FBI or a Police officer. Heck, maybe go back to school get my law degree and become a D.A."

"Won't that take a long time?"

"Not really, I have three years of Princeton Law School before I was stupidly lured away." He said shaking his head.

"Wow Daniel that is great."

"How about you Eve, do you want to stay in the CIA."

"Until I met you the answer was yes. Now definitely not"

"When does your contract end?"

"Eighteen months twelve day and 8 hours!"

Daniel sat back and laughed and she joined in. They held each other tenderly as their eyes sparkled. "God I love you Eve"

"I love you to Daniel, I love you to."

Field Work and Separations

Daniel's first assignment was to baby sit an important Asset in Great Britain. This person was going to be able to identify some hire-ups in an organization called Fulcrum. During his three weeks before the ID went down they tried to kill him twice.

Daniel knew that he had to keep his head in the game. He never had that problem before but damn he missed Eve. Her beautiful brown eyes and soft flowing brown hair. He never knew how much it would suck not to be able to talk to her. That was when it hit him. He was smitten and when he got back he promised that he would get a burn phone for her and him so that they could at least talk.

When he got off the plane she was there waiting for him. It was like a blur as she raced toward him. His smile could light up the room and when she jumped up they put on quite a show. There were whistle and laugher around them but they did not care. THREE DAMN WEEKS without each other! They would spend the entire weekend in bed repeating over and over again how much they missed each other.

Unfortunately four days later Daniel was off on another assignment. This one was in France. He had to admit that this was one of his favorite cities and a perfect spot to take Eve on their honeymoon. He shocked himself when he thought about it. Then a smile grew in his face, 'Why not.' He knew Eve's ring size and it was natural that they had discussed what she would be looking for in an engagement ring. Daniel knew they had only been together only a few months but Shaw did not care. He had found his one and only. 'Why wait?' With this job and the bad guys they were running up against you never knew how long you really had. That spies do not fall in love was total bullshit. He often thought they placed those barriers there as another form of punishment.

As far as Graham and the fallout he did not care. Graham was not one of his favorite people and as far as he was concerned he was a short-timer. Daniel said good-bye to his fellow agents and told them he was going shopping for a family member. Technically that was true. Eve would certainly going to become his entire family.

Daniel stopped at 24 Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré. The department store is called Hermès. Of course he was not going to buy the rings and nothing else. It was Eve birthday in a week, so he bought her a scarf, and besides the two carat princess cut diamond ring, he bought her some diamond earrings and a nice leather belt and wallet for himself. He would have to return in about three days for the rings but that was alright. He was actually enjoying himself.

He was busy taking in the sights when he was snapped out of his euphoria by a loud boisterous laughter. As coincidence would have it was none other than André Morreau, the French arms dealer who was the purpose for their current mission. He was no more than five feet away. Morreau had close ties to Tommy Delgado a known Fulcrum associate. Apparently Morreau had just purchased ten Stinger Missiles from Volkoff and was willing to sell it to Delgado who needed it for an upcoming mission.

Daniel stepped outside the store and called Michael Anders who was the agent in charge. "Shaw secure but in Public."

"Anders secure, how is the shopping going Daniel?"

"Quite well thank you. You would not believe the people you get to meet when you are shopping. Apparently even André Morreau likes Hermès."

That got the attention of Anders. "Who else is with him?"

"At least two body guards and two I really do not know what to call them, girlfriends, call girls, CIA agents?"

That got a laugh from Anders, "Ok Daniel hold the fort down until we get there."

"Will do, it looks like he will be there a while, he was buying jewelry for the girls." Daniel had never been so at ease as he was right now. He was actually enjoying himself on this mission and he knew exactly why, soon he was going to propose to his soul mate. If anyone would have told him he would have this carefree attitude on missions a year ago he would have thought that person was seriously insane.

He smiled and shook his head, 'Damn it feels good.'

That was why a careful man like André Morreau did not give Daniel a second look when he saw him enter Hermès again. An Agent would never have this type of attitude or smile on his face. 'The man is obviously in love.' thought Morreau.

Daniel and the other agents were staying at the Hilton Paris La Defense Hotel which was only 8.62 km from the Hermès. In 10 minutes they were at the store. They did not have to look around as Morreau was still at the jewelry counter.

Anders informed Daniel, "We are taking them down."

"Really, I thought we were going to follow him."

"Change of orders."

"Ok." Daniel sounded skeptical. As he doubled back and stood behind his two body guards.

The other four Agents were surrounding him when Morreau decided to go to the bath room. They allowed him to do that as his body guards stood guard outside the door.

Daniel moved quickly and pulled his gun and aimed it at one guards while another Agent got the drop on the other guard. Quickly zip tying and taping their mouths, they were quickly controlled.

Agent Donaldson, Anders and Shaw moved to the bathroom as Morreau was finishing in the stall. He was startled and tried to deflect.

Qu'est-ce que cela signifie? French

("What is the meaning of this?")

"You are under arrest!"

"Je ne comprends pas."

("I do not understand.")

"Oh we know you understand just fine Morreau." Smiled Daniel.

"You completely fooled me Monsieur. The way you were acting, like you did not have a care in the world, very convincing."

"Why thank you."

The blaring of the Sûreté cars let everyone know that the French Police had arrived. Even though they had been briefed, Lieutenant Lamberte was annoyed.

"Au diable les Américains! Ils pensent que nous sommes ici pour nettoyer après eux et embrasser leurs ânes."

("Damn Americans! They think we are here to clean after them and kiss their asses.")

"Y a-t-il un problème Lieutenant?"

("Is there a problem Lieutenant?")

Caught by what he thought was a comment no one heard the Lieutenant back tracked immediately. "Sorry Agent...?"

"Shaw, Daniel Shaw."

"Agent Shaw, are you the Agent in charge?"

"No that would be Agent Anders."

"Where is he?"

"Talking to another Sûreté Officer."

With a nod he attempted to leave when Daniel commented, "You know Lieutenant that man is just as much an enemy of your country as he is ours."

Somewhat embarrassed about being overheard he simply nodded. The Lieutenant went to speak with Agent Anders. It was decided to hold Morreau at the police station and wait for the courts to extradite him to America.

"Not that I particularly care," Daniel stated, "But don't you find it funny that Morreau is being processed like a common criminal?"

Anders agreed, "I really do not know what is going on, however; the instructions came directly from the Director's Office."

Two nights later a Sûreté Officer walked slowly as he made his way to Morreau's cell. Morreau looked up as the cell door was opened.

"Où allons-nous?"

("Where are we going?")

The Officer roughly picked up Morreau and placed a zip tie behind his back. He then threw him back on his bunk bed. Moving forward again he taped his mouth, the Officer finally smiled and whisper in his ear.

"Fulcrum vous envoie ses salutations."

("Fulcrum sends you their regards.")

He produced a syringe and injected a green like substance that was actually acid. Morreau screamed in pain however, no one heard him as his mouth was tape and he was being pushed down face first on the cot. It took about 15 seconds but he soon stopped moving. The Officer quickly cut the zip ties and removed the tape around his mouth and laid him down like he was sleeping and took a couple of pictures. Again he proceeded to walk slowly out of the detention center like he owned it. Once in the car he removes the disguise he was wearing and drove off.

The same officer walks into a warehouse, he looks around and waits. Soon a car drives up and three men get out of the car. They walk slowly towards the warehouse. "You are late Delgado."

"And you are so impatient Agent Ryker."

"The money please?"

"The evidence first."

Ryker throws him a picture of a dead Morreau. "Good work Agent, are you sure you would not like to join Fulcrum?"

"My partner and I wish to remain independent contractors. Is all the money here?"

"Yes, half a million as agreed."

"Good." He closes the brief case and starts to walk out.

"You are not going to count it?" A perplex Tommy Delgado asks.

"Oh I know it is here, Ted Rourke would never want to make us angry."

Stunned that Ryker knew who the head of Fulcrum was, he watched him get in the car and drive away.

Agent Smith who had been watching the exchange says, "We should not be dealing with scum like that, it is unprofessional."

"Yea," Delgado retorts, "The CIA has a real winner there."

In the morning, Graham calls in demanding a status report. "Sir I am confused."

"What about Agent Anders?"

"Sir we were told by your office to coordinate our efforts with the Sûreté. They are holding Morreau until the extradition hearing the day after tomorrow."

Graham was visibly upset. "WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT AGENT! My office gave no such order. You were supposed to follow Morreau and see who he was selling those Stinger missiles to!"

"Sir we were told by your office to grab him and to coordinate with the Sûreté."

"Get him out of there right now! I will contact the President. If we do not stop those Stingers it could lead to some disastrous results."

"There will not be any problems with the Sûreté?"

"The problem will be resolved within a couple of hours. Morreau needs to be interrogated by specialists. I just do not want anything to happen to him before he is interrogated."

"Ok gentlemen let us get ready to go to the Commissariat."

"What is going on?" asked Agent Brown.

"Apparently, someone gave the wrong orders concerning Morreau."

That got everyone's attention. "I'll explain on our ride over to the police station." Just then Anders phone buzzed.

A very somber and apologetic Lieutenant Lamberte that spoke, "Agent Anders there has been an incident and you need to come over to the station now."

"What incident?" Responded Anders.

"I do not feel comfortable talking about this over the phone."

"We will be right there." Anders had that look about him.

"What now?" Asked Daniel.

"Don't know yet but this day keeps getting better and better."

Of course when they got there, Anders worst fears were realized. They looked at the footage and saw that the assassin was dressed like a police officer. There were tail tell signs that he had a disguise. 'Now for the fun part,' thought Anders. He knew that Graham would blow his stack over this.

Graham gritted his teeth, "This is unbelievable!"

Anders was not about to let this incident get thrown at his or his team's feet. He subtlety recapped the story to Graham to make sure that he realized that there was a mole working in his office.

"Sir, the orders that came from your office and the subsequent assassination clearly indicates that we have a problem within our ranks."

Graham signed in frustration, "Fine, you and your team are to catch a flight tomorrow and report back to Langley on Monday."

That suited Shaw just fine as it gave him time to get the ring and a whole five days off to pop the question.

Proposal plus Marriage

Daniel was almost giddy as their jet touched down in D.C. He could not wait to see Eve and not for the first time did he subconsciously touched the red velvet box in his coat pocket. Daniel had not told Eve he was coming home today. He had a few things to plan out before tonight and Daniel wanted it to be perfect.

He knew Eve loved Italian so he personally went to Filomena Ristorante and made reservations. He then personally spoke to the owner who happened to be in the premises and told him what he was planning to do. The owner who happened to be a romantic at heart totally fell in love with what he had in mind. The ambiance of Filomena Ristorante was amazing; they made you feel like Family.

Daniel figured that he would fool Eve by making it look like they were celebrating her upcoming birthday. He had bought her those diamond earrings and a scarf. He planned dinner to be magical for her. Of course he had always gone on and on about wines and what his favorite ones were. He was going to use that knowledge tonight to help him pop the big question. He would have her do a little taste tests of wines only the last wine would have the ring.

Yes tonight would be a special night for both of them. Every now and then he would catch himself. He had never been this excited about anything in his life. However, Eve had made that much of a difference to him and he was going to give his all to make her happy.

He then finished his plan by renting a limo and buying Eve roses which she loved so much. Eve had just arrived at six when she entered their home in Virginia and noticed the beautiful center piece full of roses. There was a card in it which she read, 'To the most beautiful woman in the world.'

She simile brightly looked around and there leaning against the wall was a smiling Daniel Shaw. She sprinted to him and crashed her lips to his. "Why did you not tell me you were coming home?"

Smiling he whispered in her ear, "I wanted to surprise you my loved."

"God I have missed you Daniel."

"Well get ready sweetheart we are celebrating tonight."

"What is the occasion?"

"We are celebrating your almost birthday."

"But baby my birthday is not until next week."

"I know, however, next week I might be somewhere else in the world and I will not be able to celebrate it with you."

"What do you have in mind?"

"Leave it all up to me; I have taken care of everything."

"Ok let me take a shower," She turned to him. "Wash my back?"

"Anything for you baby."

Almost an hour later they were getting ready to go out, Daniel suggested dressing up.

"Where are you taking me Daniel?"

"It's a surprise."

"Daniel." She pouted adorably.

"Nope you will not break me you evil woman." He said laughing.

Eve then stuck her tongue out. "Good come back." Daniel said smiling widely. He had a very good feeling about tonight.

Daniel noticed that Eve was looking around for some jewelry to wear, she did not have much. He leaned over her softly kissed her neck and said, "Try these."

They were beautiful diamond earrings as Eve's eyes became big as saucers. "Oh Daniel they are beautiful, thank you sweet heart."

"Happy birthday my love."

The night became even better when there was a knock on the door, Daniel answered and when he came back he said, "Our ride is here birthday girl."

"Wow Daniel you really went all out!"

"There is more to come."

They were having a wonderful time talking about anything and everything. When they pull up in front of Filomena Ristorante Eve was flabbergasted. This was one of her favorite restaurants.

"Thank you Daniel, this is the best birthday ever for me." She kissed him gently.

The driver opened the door and out stepped Eve looking like a movie star, she was absolutely gorgeous. Daniel stepped out next looking very handsome in his suit. They made a handsome couple. The maître d was well aware of Daniel's plan and greeted the couple warmly. They were seated and the night was just going fabulously. Eve was more and more impressed by Daniel's actions. He was funny and charming and just wanted to make this night special for her. It was getting to the end of their night when Daniel started on his favorite wines.

"I am telling you Eve white wines have always tasted better to me."

"Daniel did you not make the same argument about red wines the last time we went out." Smirked Eve.

"Now Eve that hurts," laughed Daniel. "I will tell you what, let us decide this today. We will take two red and two white and let us decide once and for all."

"Hey are you trying to get me drunk?"

"No only a small taste is allowed, I have plans for you tonight." He smiled mischievously.

"Hmm...Can't wait," she said seductively.

Daniel got up and talked to the maître d, he whispered in his ear. They both smiled widely and nodded their heads.

The waiter brought out four glasses and made sure not to draw attention to the glass by taking each one individually turning his back to them as he poured the wine and waiting for their reaction before doing the same thing with another wine. Finally it was time to serve the last wine. The waiter looked at Shaw, who gave a nod and he dropped the ring inside the glass but did not pour the wine. He handed the glass to Daniel who covered it with both hands.

"Ok this last one is the most special; let me know what you think."

Eve start to take a sip of the wine when she noticed the glass was empty. She then blinked twice as she notice something bright and shining at the bottom of the glass. She then gasped in utter shock as she flipped the glass over and in her hand and there was the most beautiful two carat diamond ring she had ever seen. At the same time Daniel dropped to one knee and began to talk.

"Eve before I met you I was a cold and callous person. Not anymore. When I am with you I am a different person. Someone who cares and always looks forward to the next day, because I know that when I wake your beautiful face will be there to greet me. You are the most amazing woman in the world to me. You complete me my love. Would you do me the great honor to be my wife?"

Eve kept looking at the ring and back to Daniel; she was ready to burst out with happiness. "Yes, yes, yes!" She threw herself at him and kissed him senseless. The whole restaurant seems to erupt in applause

With the biggest joyous smile Daniel can give her, he takes the ring from her hand and he puts it on her ring finger. They stand up in unison and they look into each other's eyes before they tenderly kiss.

She whispers in his ear, "I think we are done here, let us go home and celebrate."

The buzzing noise of the alarm clock wakes them up in the morning. Eve quickly turns off the alarm. A half a sleep Daniel Shaw protests, "Call in sick babe stay with me."

Oh how she wished she could stay. "I have two Agents finishing off their recertification's today. I cannot get out of it. However, I promise to ask for the day off tomorrow and make it a long weekend for us."

He started kissing her around the neck almost crumbling her resolve. "I will see you for lunch if you dropped by."

"Oh you can count on it."

In the back of her mind the uneasiness Eve was feeling as she came to work should have given her pause, however, she was really too happy and was not paying attention. Prying eyes soon fell upon her and the ring she was wearing. By the end of the day the happy news had reached the offices of the one only Langston Graham. Oh he could not stop his agents from having relationships but marriage was something totally different. When he learned who the happy couple was he hit the roof. A field agent was always vulnerable and if the enemy found out that you had a weakness such as a wife, they could certainly use it against you.

Graham was also worried about the fact that there was a mole loose among his ranks. He was aware that those Stingers were loose and could become a real problem therefore; he decided to kill two birds with one stone and send Shaw and a team of Agents to France. He needed those Stingers back; also this was a way for the happy couple to cool their heels. He had his deputy director contact the Agents involved. This could be a three to six month assignment. 'That should cool off Agent Shaw a bit.' Graham thought as he smiled to himself.

After they got back from their little get away weekend Daniel was sent a text message by Deputy Director Dru Holliday to report to his office in the morning. Daniel realized what that meant it was a long term assignment. He needed to talk to Eve as this could ruin their plans to get married.

"Eve I just received a text from the deputy director to report to his office in the morning. I am afraid we might be separated for months."

"Daniel what are we going to do?"

"I don't know yet but once I find out the particulars we will have to make some plans, I just cannot go months without seeing you it just not fair."

"You know I could ask for a leave of absence, or request that I join you."

"I do not know if that would be allowed, I still do not know what kind of reaction Graham might have to our getting married."

"Legally he cannot stop us, but we both know he could be very underhanded when he wants to." Then it hit her, "Oh my god!"

"What?"

"The day I went to work I had my ring on. Several people asked me about it and I just blurted out that I was engaged with you."

"And," he finished for her, "three days later I am getting this text. You are right this is not a coincidence."

"I am so sorry Daniel."

"Don't be Eve; I just want you to know if it is between you and the job, there is no competition. You will always be number one."

As expected the team was to investigate what had happened to the Stingers and who had them now. The CIA was confident they had not been moved from France yet. Time was critical and they needed to move. Of course the CIA had provided the honey trap, Amy Larson to go with the team as it was suspected that she might be needed in this assignment. The good part was that he was again teamed up with his old friend Agent Silva and Agent Bellows an experienced Agent that could be counted on. Amy was a beautiful blonde that had been in the agency for five years.

She knew how to handle herself, that still repulsed Daniel who often wondered what kind of people these women were who could sleep with marks and then shoot them between the eyes. It was just something in his psyche that told him these women were damaged goods. Amy took a look at the very good looking Shaw and made her normal type pass at him. Daniel quickly shot her down.

"So Agent Shaw why don't we get better acquainted, this mission could last months."

"Thank you but I am engaged."

"Wow a loyal man how about that?"

"Yes I am totally loyal and I love my future wife, I will never cheat on her." Daniel said it with such conviction that Amy knew right away it would be useless to go after him.

Having only a couple of days to get their affairs in order before flying out to France, Daniel came up with an idea. "Eve, if we were to get married now we could possibly use it to our advantage."

"I think that the seduction route might only get them so far. They may need a married couple. I could suggest you if that were to happen. Since we both are CIA they would go for it and we could use it as our honeymoon. However, the plain truth Eve is that I do not want to spend another moment without calling you Mrs. Shaw no matter what happens in this mission."

"I love you Daniel."

"And I truly love you Eve."

The very next day they stood at the District of Columbia Government: Deputy Clerk of the Court saying their vows. It was not the most romantic setting either of them would have chosen but it would have to do.

The Mission and their consequences

As expected the mission began with the attempted seduction of Pierre-Louis Lefèvre. He was a known associate Morreau.

When Daniel looked at the mission objectives for this evening he shook his head. "It will not work." He stated flatly.

"What do you mean it will not work," Responded Agent Bellows.

"Look Lefèvre is maybe 5'7". His has a deep scar on his left cheek. He is ugly as hell, and you expect that a beautiful woman like Amy would fall all over herself to be with him?" He shook his head again, "It won't work. He will see her coming a mile away."

"Well we will have to go with it tonight. However, Agent Larson we intend to keep close tabs on you." Said Agent Silva.

It turned out that Daniel had been totally correct, they were able to save Amy just in time as she was about to get sliced. Unfortunately, they had no time to be careful and Lefèvre and his three cohorts ended up dead.

After the mission Amy came over to Daniel's room. He had just finished showering and had a towel around his waist. He thought it was Silva so he yelled "come in," just as he came out of the bathroom. Amy looked at Daniel with lust in her eyes.

"I came over to say thank you for tonight."

"You are welcome Agent Larson."

"You know Daniel; I am great at giving messages."

"I'll bet you are Amy, but I told you before, I do not cheat."

She shook her head, 'What a waste.'

When she did not move so he said, "Good night Agent."

The second mission was once again a seduction. Henri LA fleur was a French Minister with close ties to the Ring. Once again Daniel shook his head. "It will not work."

"Surely LA fleur is not in the same category as Lefèvre." Said Bellows.

"No you are right about the physical aspect of this man. He is handsome, 6'2" and wealthy. However, he has a beautiful wife and the man does not stray. He might be a Ring scum bag but he is an excellent family man."

"Look I will play it by ear, if I can seduce him I will. Otherwise just stay close ok."

Amy had learned quickly that Daniel seemed to have a great knack for predicting these events and frankly was nervous about this outcome.

Once again just as Daniel had predicted, Amy found herself in a cellar stripped naked with a big burly man ready to whip the truth out of her.

LA fleur said to one of the Ring Agents,

Cette salle est insonorisée, personne n'entendra ses cris. Lorsque vous obtenez la vérité de son, tuer et se débarrasser du corps.

("This room is sound proof; no one will hear her screams. When you get the truth out of her, kill her and dispose of the body.")

Amy was once again lucky. She had activated her tracker and her team was able to save her in time. The three agents that were going to have a good time with her died almost immediately. After she got dressed they all went after the Minister who unfortunately had enough time to bite down on a cyanide pill.

This turn of event almost caused a national incident between the French and the Americans Governments; it also gave Daniel the opportunity he was waiting for.

On a conference call with the Deputy Director Dru Holiday, Daniel suggested a different course.

"Sir the seduction route is simply not working we need to go in a different direction."

"What would that be?" Holiday asked

"That we pose as buyers for the Stingers. We would be a husband and wife team that are independent contractors. We allow at least two purchases to occur before we move in on the third buy."

"Ok I suppose we can get Agent Larson to pose as your wife..."

"No sir the couple should not be in a pretend relationship. Agent Larson should be recalled and my wife should replace her."

"You are married?" Holiday was shocked.

"Yes sir I am and best part of all is that Eve works with us at the farm. Look so far all we have are attempted seductions that have led to disastrous results. It is time to go in a new direction."

"Why allow the purchases?"

"To gain their confidence, each purchase will be larger. The third one will be large enough to get their top people involved. Then we move in and take them down."

"That sounds like a good plan; however, I will have to run this by the Director."

Daniel's face fell; he saw his plans blow up before it got started. All he could think of was that Amy would get to be his pretend wife and he would not see Eve for several months.

The next day Graham was unreadable when he gave Larson the orders to come back to Langley and Evelyn Shaw joined the team. Daniel and Evelyn were ecstatic when he picked her up at the airport. He could not believe that Graham had gone for this. Time to enjoy a real honeymoon. Daniel also had to admit that the team had relaxed quite a bit since Eve arrived. Amy had a tendency to keep the team on edge with all her sexual innuendos. Now they could concentrate on the mission at hand.

Their covers became the Smith's. Eva and Benjamin Smith. They let it be known in the right places that they were interested in purchasing Stingers. Kevin Dubois was a young and upcoming Fulcrum Agent. Thought of himself as god's gift to women and would have been perfect for Amy. Not that he would not have seen her coming, but would have at least kept his lecherous eyes on her instead of Eve. He was the type of pig that thought the only way to seal a deal was to bed the perspective buyer's woman.

Of course the first time Kevin made a pass at Eve he nearly lost his life. Daniel made it clear that if he even looked at his wife the wrong way he would end him. It had been a test really; Fulcrum or any other organization knew that with these so call fake couples the CIA put together the women always seemed to be available for whatever these creeps had in mind.

However, the way Daniel and Eve acted made them realize these two were the real deal. The first deal went down without any incident. Daniel thought that hitting Kevin might have ruined their opportunity, instead it had enhanced it.

With guns showing both sides agreed that if the Stingers worked they would be back for more.

"Agents report."

"Director the first sale went off without any problems. We should be making contact again with Dubois in three days' time."

"Be careful with Dubois, he is one of Delgado's rabid dogs. When all this is done he needs to be one of the captured or killed. The real good news is that those Stingers you purchase match the serial numbers of the ones that were stolen from Fort Meade. Keep me posted of any new developments, we will conference again after the second purchase."

The second purchase of five stingers did not go as well as the first transaction. Kevin pulled one of his bone headed plays and raised the price at delivery. Then someone called 'Leader' wanted only to give them four instead of the five Stingers promised. Of course they were again testing the young couple. Daniel had anticipated this move and brought a lot of backup.

"I see you are no fools." said Kevin. He had taken a shot at Daniel that barely missed.

Eve was pissed off at nearly losing Daniel growled her response to the Fulcrum contingency. "If you ever try to double cross us again just know that we will kill all of you."

"Ok," Kevin Dubois said. "We had to be sure that you were not CIA. They usually give you one good sale and then try and take you down on the next deal."

"We need this equipment. The people we are buying for are cautious. You have the potential for many more deals if you come through. However, we will not deal with an organization that tries to double cross us. I am sorry Mr. Dubois, but we no longer trust you. If you want to sell us more weapons than your boss will have to make the next deal with us, that will show us good faith on you part."

The great profit that Fulcrum had made from this deal was the temptation that Daniel and Eve knew Fulcrum would not be able to resist. "We will get in touch with you if these Stingers prove to be the same quality as your previous ones. However, if we ask for more, we will demand that the deal be made by your boss."

Everyone stepped carefully back, got in their cars and left. The trap was now set to close the chapter on this cell. Dubois had requested and received assistance from Ryker but since this operation was coming from Holiday and not Graham's office he did not know who they were and gave them a clean bill of health.

Graham was very pleased with the results of the mission so far and knew the end game could be big. He sent three more teams however to join the current group for the big capture. However, he rerouted them through Germany to mislead the mole in his department. They were in place for the final deal which came a week later. This time there was over ten million on the line. The deal was big enough to attract Tommy Delgado and two of his lieutenants. Unfortunately, Tommy had been recalled by Rourke at the last moment. The deal went down like always, however, today they were bringing a truck because the order included (10) 50 Caliber machine guns, (10) cases of AK-47 rifles and one hundred thousand rounds of Ammo. Of course the last 3 Stingers were added along with 100 shoulder rocket launchers.

The truck had given Daniel and Eve the opportunity they needed to add the extra Agents. With the normal back up it turned out to be a small convoy.

"So you ready for the transfer?" Smirked Kevin.

"Where is your boss Dubois?"

"He was recalled."

"I do not want to deal with you anymore."

Daniel made the signal to turn around because the deal was off.

"No wait!"

"What?" Responded Daniel.

"The main boss might not be here but his Lieutenants are would that be acceptable? Meet Agent Miller and Dawson."

They both got out and walked over to Daniel and Eve.

"How do we know we are dealing with Agents in charge and no some Agents pretending to be in charge?"

"You really do not, we could have said we were the actual Boss and you still would not know the difference."

They certainly had a point that is why Daniel knew they were what they were claiming to be. "I will still have to check with my boss to see what he wants me to do."

"You have a boss; I thought you were in charge."

"We all have bosses Agent."

Daniel took a chance and call Graham in front of the Fulcrum Agents.

"This is Smith Sir."

Graham knew that was Daniel's alias, if he was calling him in the open something must be up so he played along. "Report Agent."

Sir their Boss is not here he was recalled. However, his Lieutenants "Agent Miller and Dawson are here for the transaction."

Graham was busy checking in his system to see if they were actually hire ups in the Fulcrum food chain. They had hit gold with what Daniel had stated. The CIA had been after those two for a while. However, he continued to play along to make sure his Agents would not get hurt. "Agent Smith do you think these men are telling the truth?"

"Yes sir I do."

"Then you have a go."

That had always been the signal to proceed with the take down. Daniel waved the truck and his men over for the take down. He turned to Agent Dawson, "It looks like we have a deal." Then he turns to Silva, "Bring the money over."

"Ok let's see those weapons." The operation went beautifully. There was hardly any gun play and once the truck backed up the Agents poured out of the back of the truck it caught everyone by surprise. The only gun play occurred when one of the Fulcrum cars tried to get away and was blown up by one of the shoulder held rocket launchers.

Daniel and Eve were elated as was everyone else on the team. They all celebrated and were about to go home when Graham came on line to congratulate the whole team.

"Excellent work team. We also have recovered several computers with encrypted software that needs to be delivered to our analyst as soon as possible."

"Sir do you mind if I take a look?"

Everyone including Daniel turned and looked at Eve in surprise.

"I umm...I have a degree in computer programming from Georgia Tech, Network security was my specialty."

"Why did we not know this before?" Inquired Graham.

"Well sir after working for the Rand Corporation for six months I realized that it could be boring. So I went back to the school and obtained a second degree in political science and when the opportunity came I joined the Agency with that degree."

"Alright Agent Jones give it a try and see what you can do."

"Shaw sir."

"What?"

She held up her ring finger, "Mrs. Shaw sir."

"Very well Agent Shaw see what you can do." Said a very irritated Director.

Little did Eve realize that this simple act to help the agency would lead to her demise. If Daniel thought that they would be working together because of the success of their mission he would soon find out how wrong he was. Langston Graham did not forgive or forget. He simply was not wired that way; if any of his Agents got a little too close to each other he would separate them. That is why he had sent Daniel on this mission. Sure it had ended up successfully but still what Daniel pulled to get Eve here was dully noted and just reaffirmed in Graham's mind why Agents should not fall in love. And god forbid that his Agents become involved with their Asset, they would be reassigned faster than they could pack. Oh he did not care about them having sex while they were partners, that was to be expected, but falling in love and in Daniel's and Eve's case actually marrying was just unforgivable. He would teach the Shaw's a hard lesson for being insubordinate.

New Assignment

It had been two weeks since they got back, Daniel thought that they would be called in for another assignment but was surprised by the down time. Well never let it be said that Daniel Shaw let an opportunity to be with his wife go to waste. They were settled now, very comfortable with each other. That meant that they were going at each other like bunnies. It really had been a glorious two weeks when Daniel's phone finally buzzed. Graham wanted to see him. 'Why only him.' he thought.

Daniel got the answer when he met Graham the next day. He was to transport an asset back from Iceland. However, the asset had to finish an assignment first that would take two weeks. In other words he was to babysitting someone two weeks. 'Well it was only two weeks he would be back with Eve in no time,' the only problem was the fact that he would be in total blackout mode. Where he was stationed at his cell would not work.

Three days after Daniel left, Eve got a call from Graham; he needed to see her in his office.

"Agent Shaw, I need you to go to London and deliver this flash drive to this man." The picture of Thomas Stratton appeared. "You will be meeting him at a pub called Coach & Horses. With your skills of decryption they will be interested in you working for them. Your job will be to find out where this base is and let us know where it is located.

She looked down and saw the address 29 Greek Street. Eve looked concern but there was no way she could decline this mission. Worst of all Daniel was away and she could not get in touch with him.

"Sir how long will this Assignment take?"

"If everything goes according to plan one or two weeks."

"Sir I have never been on the field by myself."

"Do not worry Agent Shaw; Agent Ryker will be your contact. This is a straight forward assignment, just discover the base location and report it and you are done." Graham gave her one of his famous fake smiles.

Eve's mission went according to plan. The big hold up was that Stratton was a very careful man, therefore; it took nearly a week to confirm who she was from a double Agent working for the CIA. What also helped save Eve was that Ryker was busy with other business and he never got back to Stratton. That was normal since as far as the Ring was concerned he was an independent contractor, so they accepted the information that the CIA mole gave them.

Eve worked her magic on the encryption software, which impressed Stratton to no end and he spoke highly of her to the others working at the base. Eve also passed the information needed for the take down of the Ring base. It would be the first time going against this organization and as far as Graham was concerned it would bring this small time operation to its knees. Graham insisted that Eve remain in place when the raid went down, that way she would be protected in case there were more Ring Agents.

The take down went as planned, expertly executed and with minimal gun play. Eve was taken into custody along with the rest of the Cell. The minor players which included Eve were being held at the Southwark Police Station on 323 Borough High Street. Stratton and three other important Agents had been whisked away for some aggressive interrogation.

For her part Eve had done her job and kept quiet. She knew something was up later that night. Adrian Tulloch, one of the research people at the Ring base spoke quietly to Eve. "We are getting out of here." he whispered.

"What? How?"

"Some of our people activated their trackers we will be rescued soon." He then pointed to the bunk bed, "Use that mattress as cover. There may be some gun play."

She was scared to death, this was something that was not planned and outside of her mission parameters. However, she could do nothing. If she said anything and they did not believe her she would be dead for sure.

True to his word not 30 minutes later a muffled sound and commotion was happening outside. She could see nothing except what might have been flash bangs and smoke, a lot of smoke. Through the smoke several men in black tactical gear came in and started opening up each cell. They had a list of personal and kept asking people who they were, a right answer got you released, and a wrong answer got you a bullet in the head. When they opened Adrian and Eve's cell she was sure they were going to kill her. Thankfully Adrian came to her defense.

"It took you long enough."

"This type of rescue takes some time to plan."

He then turned to Eve, "Name."

"Eva...Eva White."

"Not on the list," the man in the tactical gear said.

He was about to raise his weapon when he was stopped by Tulloch. "Don't be a fool; she is that marvelous analyst who is very gifted decrypting data."

"She is not on the list."

"She is an independent contractor; now let's go we have to move."

Sixteen of the twenty captured agents were loaded into vans and speed away from what looked like a war like scene; there were dead people and Constables everywhere. They never really had a chance. It was still dark when they got to the coast and Eve had no clue where she was so she turned to Adrian.

"Where are we going?" she whispered.

"To France, things have gotten a little too hot here."

Eve swallowed hard and nodded. She felt trapped. 'I should be home now waiting for Daniel.' She was really out of her element and freaking out a little, with no cell phone or anyway to contact Graham. 'How am I going to contact Graham?' She would have to play it by ear but as soon as she could she would do everything in her power to get out of there.

Daniel Shaw arrived back from his mission and did not understand why every time he called Eve she did not answer. Worried he rushes back to their home.

"Eve, Eve are you home?" He started to look for her when he spotted a letter next to the center piece on top of dining table. It was addressed 'To Daniel' He opened it and read it and suddenly he could not breath. 'That Son of a Bitch.' He quickly called Langston Graham.

"Shaw secure." He barely could hide the venom and hatred he felt for the man.

"Graham secure, what is it agent?"

"Where is my wife Director?"

"She was sent on assignment."

"Where is she now?"

"Why don't you come in and let us discuss the situation."

"I will be there in 30 minutes!"

He rushed to his car and was driving like a madman trying to get to Graham as soon as possible. Just the mere fact that he did not answer his question left his stomach twisting and turning. Daniel just could not believe that Graham would wait until he was on assignment to send his wife on a mission. 'What a cold hearted bastard.' Daniel was starting to really hate Graham.