Hello. I'm sorry it took so long to update this, but work had to interfere, and I beta'ed several chapters of other stories as well. I'm still trying to come up with a good path to take this story, but some details have ironed themselves out. I will try to come out with the next update sooner, I promise.
Thanks to BDaddyDL for telling me one of my lines was not exactly my best work. And he was right.
Anyway, please read and review. I am always welcome to suggestions if you have them. In the meantime, enjoy!
Chevy Chase, Maryland
June 22, 2033
7:30 PM PDT
Alex Forrest-Slade pulled her car into the driveway of her well-to-do home and sighed. She saw Jimmy's car in the garage, but that was no surprise. She found his car there every single night she came home from her office on K Street. She checked the schedule she inputted on her gComm. If she had to guess, given his penchant for cooking Italian on Wednesdays, Jimmy probably made bruschetta, Italian sausage soup with tortellini, peppered shrimp Alfredo, and was putting the finishing touches on his own version of tiramisu. And if he kept to his pattern, there would be a big bouquet of flowers waiting for her, and she would later be on the receiving end of a relaxing foot massage and not even have to worry about making sure the house was clean. There was no doubt Jimmy was the most loving and caring husband a woman could wish for.
The rotten bastard, she thought.
Most men would be thrilled to face retirement while they were still young enough to enjoy it. Apparently, Jimmy was not one of those men. After he left the hospital in Atlanta, he spent six weeks in rehab attempting to get his coordination back after having his spinal cord severed thanks to that evil bastard, Daniel Shaw. Alex was able to negotiate a generous retirement package for him from the President, who had to admit the money was a mere pittance given how many lives and how much money Jimmy saved for the government. Alex hoped he would take it easy, but she should have known better. Admittedly, she loved the attention he was giving her, not that he was ever a slouch in that department. She figured it would eventually taper off and Jimmy would settle down to being more like a typical husband.
Two months later, she was still waiting.
She wanted to wring his neck and gave thought to calling a divorce lawyer, but what would she tell the judge? Your Honor, my husband has been cleaning the house, buying me flowers and cooking me dinner every day? She had hoped he would find some hobby to occupy his time while she continued to work at the DNI, but he didn't really have many of those. She even tried getting home late several times on purpose to ruin dinner, but he never got mad. In fact, he would pack the dinner into a plastic container for her to have at lunch the next day.
She opened the door and prepared for the assault of kindness. Right on schedule, Jimmy walked up to her with a bouquet of purple and white calla lilies, which was in the rotation of the seven different types of flowers Jimmy gave her. She had to give him credit: most guys would give a girl the same kind of flowers every day.
"Hey gorgeous," Jimmy said.
Alex gave a tired sigh and kissed him. She wasn't going to deny herself that; the man could kiss. "James, we've been through this…"
"Dinner will be ready in five minutes," he replied as he bounded into the dining room and pulled a bottle of white wine out of the refrigerator underneath the bar. He placed it on the table and handed Alex her traditional post-work drink: scotch on the rocks with a twist. She shook her head; it was like being in a circa 1960s television show…in reverse.
"James, please stop…" Alex huffed in frustration as she was interrupted by her gComm. She checked the screen to see an image of Sarah Bartowski.
"Hello, Sarah."
"Hi, Alex. How are you doing?"
"I…hate…you," Alex grumbled quietly so Jimmy wouldn't hear.
"What are you talking about?"
Alex walked into her office and closed the door. "You were the one who told James in no uncertain terms to retire. Now he's driving me up the wall!"
"What? Has he been leaving a mess around the house? He never struck any of us as much of a slob…"
"No! The guy won't relax! He doesn't have any missions to go on now. He mows the lawn every other day, and I have a service for that. The house is so clean, I could convert it to a hospital! He cooks these elaborate dinners every single night, and I'm up to my neck in flowers!"
"I thought you wanted him to retire. You were freaking out about it while he was in surgery."
"I know. I thought he would slow down. Most guys slow down in their 60s. But with him, it's like he went scuba diving in the Fountain of Youth!"
Sarah laughed. "You do realize how crazy you sound, right? Most women would kill to have husbands who were that attentive. And where was all of this whining when he'd drop by your office to bring you lunch every day?"
"That was different. He'd be there for an hour and take off. Sometimes…he'd stay for a while. A couple of times, he'd have to hide under the desk because nobody was supposed to know we were married."
Sarah noticed Alex's words becoming more measured. She was confused for a moment before the light bulb went off. "Why Alexandra Caroline Forrest-Slade. You horny little tramp," Sarah said as she started laughing hysterically.
"Oh right," Alex countered. "Like you've never had Chuck 'stop by' your office. You two work in the same building, for chrissake."
Sarah exhaled. "OK, Chuck used to 'stop by' my office from time to time. And I 'stopped by' his. And then the CFO walked in on us unexpectedly one day. That was an awkward Board of Directors meeting that week."
Alex laughed. "The Vice President won't even look me in the eye whenever we have security briefings."
Sarah froze in shock. "You mean Jimmy…while you were talking to the Vice-President?"
"Now the Vice-President. Back then, just the junior senator from Iowa."
"Oh, of course. Because that makes it less raunchy," Sarah replied sarcastically.
"He had no reason to complain. I was agreeing with everything he said."
Sarah had to hold on to her desk to not fall down from laughing herself silly. Alex's gComm beeped, and she checked the message on it.
"The head of my tech group just sent me a text," Alex said. "The completed IntComm passed all of its alpha testing. It's time to give a try with a human subject. Do you think you and Chuck can be here next week to help supervise?"
"That's why I originally called you," Sarah replied. "We figured your team would be ready ahead of schedule, and I wanted to get an update so we could plan accordingly. We were thinking about staying there through the Fourth of July."
"That sounds like a great idea. My nieces have been dying to catch up with all of you. They could take Emma sightseeing and shopping while we're at Langley."
"They won't mind?"
"Not at all."
Alex couldn't have been more proud of her nieces. Ashley followed in her father's footsteps and became an attorney for a prestigious firm in D.C. Her younger sister, Beverly, was visiting her for the summer after finishing the year teaching high school in suburban Pittsburgh. True to their sibling rivalry, Ashley became a Ravens fan the minute she heard Beverly had bought Steelers season tickets. Their parents had been tearing their hair out ever since, and Alex needling them about not being Eagles fans and bringing shame to the Forrest name didn't help one bit.
"Who have you found for testing?" Sarah asked.
"We have a group of candidates who have volunteered to try it out. Eventually all of them will, but we'll choose the first person by random draw."
Sarah paused for a moment before a huge smile came to her face. "I think it'd be safer if you tested it using someone we already know is capable of handling the Intersect. And it seems to me you could solve two problems at once."
Alex paused for a moment before a smile came to her face. "I like the way you think. OK, call me tomorrow on my private line at the office and we'll go over the details. I better get going before James tries to apologize for dinner getting cold."
"Wait. You're holding dinner up, and he's the one apolo…"
"Don't get me started," Alex huffed in tired frustration. "Bye."
Alex disconnected and walked back to the dining room. She saw Jimmy looking downcast.
"I'm so sor…"
Alex clamped her hand over his mouth. "Don't even think about it, babe." She glared at him and kept her hand over his mouth until he nodded in agreement. "I think it's time for you to un-retire."
Jimmy was confused. "You want me to go back to work? Was it something I did?"
Alex looked at all of the food on the dining room table. "You could say that."
Langley, Virginia
June 27, 2033
9:30 AM EDT
Chuck, Sarah, and John walked through the halls of the Central Intelligence Agency, and everybody looked at them as if the President himself just passed by. It felt weird to be this well-known by the government, but even twenty years later, people still told stories about the cold-hearted blonde agent who fell in love with a government asset and created one of the best spy teams in history.
John looked around at the marble columns and floors and people walking quickly from here to there, many of them reading information from their gComms. Some people would notice him, and the look they gave him was…John couldn't quite figure it out.
"Everybody's staring at us," John said quietly to his mother.
Sarah smiled. "It's a bit of an irony, John. We're in the middle of the biggest spy agency in the world, and yet everybody knows who we are. Even you."
"Me? I don't understand."
Chuck motioned to the people looking at John. "They're impressed with you. What you did to take down Daniel Shaw? And you're just starting college."
John shrugged. "But I really didn't do anything. The Intersect did all of the work."
Sarah wrapped an arm around John. "Believe me, sweetie, you did a lot more than that," she said as she gave him a kiss.
They turned the corner and ran into Kristin Collier, the Deputy Director at the DNI. "Chuck, Sarah, it's good to see you again," Kristin said pleasantly as she shook their hands.
"You too, Kristin," Chuck replied. "How's everything going?"
"Not bad. It's been pretty quiet around here. Well, until today, that is." She turned to John. "And is this the young man everybody's been talking about for the last three months?"
Sarah nodded with a smile. "This is our son, John."
Kristin shook his hand. "I am honored. That was excellent work in Atlanta to take down that monster Shaw."
"I just really wanted to get my parents back," John said shyly.
Kristin gave a little laugh. "You sound just like your father: very humble." She handed John a stylus and projected an image on her gComm onto a small screen on the table. "I just need you to sign a few forms. Non-disclosure agreements. Basically you promise not to reveal to anybody what you see, hear, or say here."
"Can I get a look at those?" Sarah asked with a bit of suspicion.
"Of course, but John will have to sign them since he's already turned eighteen. Don't worry, Sarah. We didn't slip any paperwork in there to recruit him into the Agency. We know he's off to Cambridge this fall."
Sarah relaxed her posture as she glanced over the documentation. She nodded to John, who signed in the box projected by the gComm.
"Thank you, John," Kristin said as she filed the paperwork and turned off her gComm. "And now we're ready to have some fun. Alex and Jimmy are waiting."
The four walked down the corridor and took the elevator to the basement. They walked down a long, Spartan-like hallway until they came to a set of double doors. Kristin touched her ID to the scanning plate, and the doors opened. Everybody stepped inside to see a large gymnasium with a significant amount of computer equipment and monitors set up on one side of it. Several large mats covered the floor in the middle of the gymnasium, and along the wall opposite of the computer equipment was a storage rack containing a large cache of various types of weaponry: guns, knives, and even a few fencing epees.
"Chuck! Sarah!"
Chuck, Sarah, John, and Kristin turned to see Alex Forrest-Slade waving at them as she entered the gym from the door on the opposite side from them. The four walked across the gym to greet them. As they got together, Jimmy Slade emerged from the locker room wearing a t-shirt and sweatpants, looking ready to get quite a workout.
The four exchanged hugs. "Did Ashley and Beverly get Emma?" Alex asked.
Chuck nodded painfully. "And somewhere in the Georgetown section of D.C., my credit card is screaming and begging for mercy."
Jimmy laughed. "Yeah, that sounds familiar. We decorated Beverly's first apartment in Pittsburgh. Let me tell you; the Forrest family has some seriously expensive tastes."
"Says the man who wears $3,000 suits and spends forty-five minutes every morning shellacking his hair so not a single one is out of place?" Alex countered acidly.
"That's when I was an agent," Jimmy replied crossly.
"True. Now it's only forty minutes."
"Anyway," Chuck said to end their annoying argument. "Can I have a look at the IntComm to make sure everything's working OK?"
"Sorry, Chuck. Of course," Alex replied as she gestured to a small table near the computer equipment. Chuck walked over and scanned the code running on the computer that was hooked up to the IntComm.
"You weren't expecting us to mess with the code, were you Chuck?" Alex asked with a raised eyebrow.
He shrugged. "We've had…problems in the past with the government changing something of ours."
"No sweat," Jimmy replied. "I told Alex the story you told me all those years ago about the NSA changing you father's Intersect on him. I said you wouldn't be too happy if they tried that again. The only thing they did was update the data files."
Chuck nodded. "You're right. I guess that's the advantage of working with the government instead of for the government." He detached the IntComm from the computer. "Ready?"
Jimmy nodded, and Chuck walked over to him. Jimmy put on the glasses and activated the IntComm. Both of them walked over to Alex, who opened her briefcase and took out several folders.
"What are those?" John asked.
"I have several test pictures that should invoke a flash on the IntComm," Alex replied. "James has never seen these pictures, so he should be able to identify the hidden information inside of them."
"How?"
"The glasses have sensors that follow your retina and scan whatever it is they're looking at," Jimmy replied. "If the IntComm finds a hit, the information displays the images in the glasses for the user to see. For example…"
Jimmy nodded, and Alex opened up the first folder to an image. Jimmy stared at it for a moment before receiving the information.
"Xiang Wan Chu, Chinese nationalist, suspected to be developing an electromagnetic pulse wave bomb for an East Asian terrorist group." Alex flipped to the next picture. "Eduardo Salazar, former Basque separatist, rumored to be working for the Janus crime syndicate in Kazakhstan." She flipped to another picture. "Dorothy Mathers, former CIA asset, supposedly killed on a yacht in the south of France."
Jimmy turned to Alex. "Emphasis on supposedly," he said, prompting Alex to make a few notes with her gComm. She flipped to the final picture. "Stephen Lightman, former member of The Ring, supposedly helped Volkoff Industries launder money and was a weapons supplier for Nicholas Quinn. Current whereabouts unknown."
"Four out of four," Alex replied with a smile. "You even got us some new information on Mathers."
"Wow," John said. "The Intersect knew all of that?"
Jimmy nodded as he took off the glasses. "In the right hands, this thing could save countless lives. Unfortunately, in the wrong hands it could destroy that many, too." He paused momentarily and shook his head. "Gee, not too Jor-El there, was I?"
"Actually, I was thinking Peter Parker's Uncle Ben from Spider-Man," Chuck quipped. He softened his voice to make it more soothing. "With great power comes great responsibility, son."
Alex gave Sarah a sideways glance. "Thanks a lot," she grumbled.
"No, no. You can't pin this on my husband," Sarah replied. "Jimmy came to us pre-nerded."
"So, the data in the Intersect works. Now what?" John asked.
Alex turned to Kristin and nodded. Kristen walked towards the locker rooms and knocked on one of the doors. Jimmy walked out to the middle of the gym floor and began to stretch on one of the mats. Kristen led a group of eight people dressed in similar workout clothes to Jimmy to the middle of the mats.
"All of these people volunteered to fight Jimmy?" Sarah asked Alex.
"I told them I would personally give a $25,000 bonus to any person who could defeat James."
Sarah's eyes widened in concern. "Does Jimmy know that?"
Alex smiled. "Now where would the fun be in telling him? Besides, if Chuck's as half as good of a programmer as he says he is, that money should be safe, right?"
Jimmy took the IntComm and punched in a few commands. He froze momentarily as several dozen images flashed in the Intersect glasses. He took them off and handed the IntComm to Kristin.
"Ready?" he asked the eight volunteers, all of whom looked eager to collect that bonus.
Two of the volunteers ran at him, one attempting to throw a punch and the other attempting to sweep his leg. Jimmy jumped backwards and landed on his hands to avoid both the punch and the leg sweep, kicking outward in both directions to knock both of them down. One person leapt into the air to land a flying roundhouse kick, which Jimmy ducked under, following it up with a leg sweep of his own to trip the person the second they landed. Two new volunteers flew at him and managed to tackle him to the ground. However, Jimmy quickly looped his hands under their arms and somersaulted backwards, pushing both of them off at the same time. He flipped himself back to a standing position just in time to deflect a butterfly kick one volunteer sent at him and jumped to avoid two of the people on the ground trying to trip him. The last two volunteers came at him, but Jimmy dove forward and did a barrel roll, which tripped the two people, causing them to fall into the pile of volunteers behind him.
Jimmy got to his feet, turned, and looked at the group of volunteers strewn around on the mats.
"Ready any time you are," he said matter-of-factly.
Kristin handed Jimmy the Intersect glasses, which he put on. He programmed the IntComm to purge his skills. A series of images flashed through the glasses, and Jimmy took them off.
"That was amazing," John said.
Jimmy shrugged. "Eh, the barrel roll was a little weak. I should have used an uki goshi on the last two. A good floating hip throw would have worked better. I must be getting old."
John rolled his eyes and turned to Sarah. "Mom, can I…"
"Definitely."
"Thanks," John replied…and smacked Jimmy upside the head.
Jimmy growled and glared at Sarah. "No. No way. The rule does not extend to him," Jimmy spat.
"Anyway," Alex interrupted. "Let's try the autoloader. Chuck, any objections?"
"None at all. I'm curious to see if this worked."
"The autoloader?" Kristin asked.
"It was Jimmy's idea. The glasses can scan whatever situation the user is in and automatically load whatever skills he or she needs."
"But what if they needed a whole lot of different skills at once?" John asked. "Couldn't that be dangerous to the person using the IntComm?"
"There's a safety feature built in so the Intersect knows the maximum amount it can give to the user. Since the Intersect first scans the retina of the person wearing the glasses, it would then have the neurological workup on them."
"That also locks the Intersect so nobody else can use it," Jimmy added. "That way, someone stealing the IntComm won't gain anything. If an unauthorized user puts on the glasses, the IntComm self-destructs."
Jimmy took the IntComm and booted the autoloader program as the volunteers got to their feet. Kristin walked over to the storage rack of equipment and wheeled it to the edge of the mat.
"OK, not everybody at once this time," Jimmy told the volunteers as he put the Intersect glasses on. "We just need to see if the autoloader gives me the right programs. So one at a time, but be sure to mix things up."
The first volunteer grabbed two bo staffs and tossed one to Jimmy. He looked at it with the glasses when the IntComm flashed the appropriate images at him. The volunteer came at him, and Jimmy blocked him with his bo staff. The volunteer kept swinging away, but Jimmy blocked every shot. Jimmy blocked one final overhead shot from the volunteer, flipped the bo staff into one hand, and jerked his arm upward, knocking his opponent's staff out of his hand. Jimmy gently touched the chest of his opponent, who conceded defeat. Two other volunteers grabbed fencing epees, and Jimmy froze momentarily as one program was erased from his mind and a new one downloaded. He ran over to grab two epees of his own and swung away, keeping both of his opponents at bay.
"You are using Bonetti's Defense against them," Chuck said to Jimmy with a smile.
"I thought it only fitting considering the rocky terrain," Jimmy replied as he went on the attack against his two opponents.
"Then you must be expecting them to attack with Capo Fero."
"Naturally. But I find Thibault cancels out Capo Fero, don't you?" Jimmy smiled as he combined a lunge with an opposition parry to knock both epees out of his opponents' hands.
"Are these two always like this?" Alex asked Sarah, who only shrugged in return. "No wonder John Casey was always grumpy around them."
The two volunteers picked up their epees and put them away as one final volunteer grabbed a pair of six-inch knives and went on the attack. The IntComm downloaded the right program to Jimmy, who used his knee to deflect the first knife and pivoted quickly to avoid the second one. He grabbed hold of the volunteer's wrist and twisted it, forcing him to drop the knife. He kicked it away as his opponent lunged at him one final time. Jimmy swung his arm to defect the lunge and grabbed the man, using a hip check to throw him to the ground, hanging onto the man's wrist until the impact jarred him enough to let go of the knife.
Jimmy pulled the man to his feet and bowed to the group of volunteers, who begrudgingly walked back to the locker room in defeat, their wallets un-augmented for their efforts.
"At the risk of sounding like Neo, whoah."
"Wow. Nicely done, Uncle Jimmy," John said. "Any chance I can give it a shot?"
Jimmy programmed the IntComm to purge the skills from his head. "Sure, if you want to give your poor mother a coronary."
John turned to Sarah. "Please, Mom? I've had the full thing in me before. This wouldn't even be a fraction of that."
Sarah's expression alternated between a worried mother and an agent. Not for the first time, the two were in direct conflict with each other. "Chuck, what do you think?"
Chuck put his hands up in surrender. "He does have a point about being able to handle it. Besides, it's just one sparring session."
Sarah stared at John for a long moment. "OK, but only one session. Martial arts only. No weapons, no crazy stunts. Go against Uncle Jimmy."
"Here you go," Jimmy said as he handed John the Intersect glasses. "It's all set for you."
John put on the glasses, and the IntComm loaded the correct program into his mind. John took off the glasses and walked to the middle of the mat where Jimmy was waiting patiently.
"Ready?" Jimmy asked.
John nodded and got into a defensive stance. Jimmy sent a half-speed punch at John, who quickly deflected it and grabbed his arm, flipping him to the ground. Jimmy quickly got up and ducked out of the roundhouse kick John delivered. Jimmy tripped John's planted foot, sending him to the ground. John pushed up with his hands and backflipped to a standing position. He faked another roundhouse kick at Jimmy, who took the bait and ducked. John swept his leg to knock Jimmy off of his feet.
Jimmy stood up as John gestured for him to attack again. Jimmy went full throttle, attempting to land punch after punch, each of which John blocked. He tried a front kick, and John grabbed his foot, flipping him onto the mat. Jimmy got up and attempted a roundhouse kick. John pivoted out of its way and sent an elbow into Jimmy's back, knocking him off balance. Jimmy righted himself and tried a flying back kick. John leaped into the air and somersaulted over Jimmy, much to the shock of everyone watching. Jimmy landed first with his back to John, but John's speed let him land and sweep his leg. Jimmy went flying through the air and landed hard on his back. John pinned his arm down and put his knee on Jimmy's chest in triumph. Everybody applauded.
"Thank you. You're far too kind," John said demurely. "Wet Willie," he added, sticking his saliva-covered pinky finger in Jimmy's ear. Jimmy growled momentarily before John got off of him and pulled him to his feet with a huge grin on his face.
"That…was impressive," Jimmy said as he wiped off his ear. He looked at everybody else, who were still in awe of John's performance.
"How was that?" John asked.
"Incredible, John," Chuck replied. "Better than any of us."
Sarah exhaled. "Now I'm really glad you chose to go to college."
"I'm not." Alex shook her head. "Cambridge's gain is definitely our loss."
MI-5 Headquarters, London
August 5, 2033
11:00 AM GMT
Samantha Collins thought she would be nervous, but she wasn't. She had wanted this since the day her mother, Carina, told her the truth about what she did. How she worked in law enforcement in the States, how she ended up working for the CIA, and eventually ending working for MI-6. She found out about her mother's friends and how they had saved the world on numerous occasions. And now she would be a part of that world, starting two years sooner thanks to her contributions to taking down Daniel Shaw and keeping the IntComm safe. The last five months had been a whirlwind of activity to get her final tests in…all of which she aced, naturally…but today was the big day. She would take the oath and begin her work as a field agent.
Although she had to admit it wasn't all peaches and cream. She missed John.
In meeting all of her mother's friends, she knew they were a special group. And even though she figured John Bartowski would be a special person, she never anticipated finding out just how special she was. Few people in the world had that combination of confident-yet-awkward that made him so endearing. But no matter what happened to them, no matter how low Daniel Shaw was willing to go to see all of them die, John never gave up. The thought may have crossed his mind once or twice, but to show the bravery John did in the face of danger with no prior experience at all was nothing short of astonishing. And at the end of the day, he still didn't consider himself anybody special.
She begged to differ…greatly.
"Just for the record, I still hate you," Michelle Jarvis said. Samantha turned around, not at all surprised to see the big grin on her friend's face.
Samantha smiled. "Hey, you'll be joining me before too long in the field."
"Yeah, if two years isn't considered long," Michelle replied with a bit of jealousy. "Technically, I should get some credit for helping you with that mission."
Samantha raised an eyebrow. "Oh, I'm sure it was complete torture for you, having to take John's cute friend back to your dorm room."
"Who never called me back, by the way."
"You didn't give him your number."
"Don't change the subject," Michelle quickly replied. Both of them looked at each other and smiled.
"Take care of yourself out there," Michelle said as she gave Samantha a hug. "I hope we get to see each other again."
"We will," Samantha replied as a few tears welled in her eyes. "That I promise."
Michelle walked back to her dorm room as Samantha went out on stage. Four other agents stood with her, all of whom would be sworn in with her. They didn't say much to her, as most of them felt some jealousy, either because she was a good two years younger than them or that she had eclipsed many of the records her older colleagues had set.
The head of British Intelligence and the Lord Chancellor appeared on the stage, and the audience rose to acknowledge their presence. Samantha couldn't see past the first two rows, so she did not know if her mother was in the audience. Only a select few could witness this ceremony, and her mother had to go through a lot of red tape if she were to be one of those people. She put that out of her mind, as the swearing-in ceremony was quite short.
"Please raise your right hand," the Lord Chancellor announced. Samantha took out the card containing the oath. She was to go first, as each agent said the oath alone and they went alphabetically.
She took a deep breath and read from the card. "I, Samantha Eleanor Collins, swear by Almighty God that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to His Majesty King William, his heirs and successors and that I will as in duty bound honestly and faithfully defend His Majesty, her heirs and successors in person, crown and dignity against all enemies and will observe and obey all orders of His Majesty, his heirs and successors."
Samantha stepped back as the other four agents read their oaths one by one. She could feel herself shaking inside. She wasn't worried about the danger, as no one ever went into this line of work expecting a long, healthy life. She was more worried about living up to the standards her mother and her friends had set in this business. She couldn't deny they set the bar very high.
The ceremony ended, and Samantha walked down the stairs to get a look at the crowd. She was shocked to find her mother, Chuck, Sarah, Casey, Gertrude, Jimmy, and Alex applauding her.
And at the end of the row clapping the loudest was John.
Samantha raced up the stairs as John exited the row. She leaped into his arms and hugged him tightly.
"My God, how did you get in?" Samantha was barely able to contain her delight.
"Aunt Alex pulled a few strings," John replied.
"This is…thank all of you so much for being here."
"I knew I wanted the biggest audience I could get for this," Carina said as she hugged her daughter. "I am so proud of you."
"Thanks, Mom. This is so wonderful. Can we all go out and celebrate?"
"That was the plan all along," Jimmy replied with a grin.
"OK, let me go get my stuff from the dorm. John, do you want to come with? You might want to get used to see what dorms look like. You'll be in one at Cambridge, right?"
"Um, sure," John replied and turned to his parents. "If that's OK."
"We can catch a cab to the restaurant," Samantha quickly added.
"We'll see you there," Chuck said.
"Thanks again, everybody," Samantha quickly said, giving her mother a kiss and taking John's hand to lead him to the dormitories.
"Uh, quick question," Casey said quietly as he elbowed Chuck. "You already had 'the talk' with him, right?"
"Of course," Chuck replied. "Why do you ask?"
Casey shook his head at Chuck's naiveté. "If you haven't, it's too late now."
-/^\-
Samantha and John walked over to Ferguson Hall and took the elevator to the tenth floor. They walked down the hallway, and Samantha touched her ID card to the lock. She opened the door and John followed her inside. He barely had the door closed when Samantha leapt into his arms, her lips crashing down on his. John was caught by surprised but caught up immediately, running his fingers through her auburn hair as their kissing increased exponentially in passion.
"I can't tell you how much I've missed you," Samantha whispered hotly into his ear as she feasted on his neck, wrapping her legs around him.
"I've missed you, too," John panted.
"It's only fair to warn you, John."
"What?"
She ripped his shirt open and started undoing his belt. "I stole my mother's handcuffs. I thought I'd have to wait until October to use them, but…"
"I promise, you won't need them," John replied as he unzipped her dress.
"Who says we won't?"
The Palm Tree, Mile End, London
August 10, 2033
11:00 PM GMT
Tony Furlan and Grace Sullivan waited patiently for their contact. There were rumors of a new terrorist group attempting to make their mark in London, but they had little to go on at the moment. MI-5 got a flash memo that their boss said was a priority one from the head of the agency himself.
The barmaid put two pints of lager down in front of them. Both of them moved the mugs to the side as they continued to look around. They ordered the beers to fit in with the crowd, but neither of them liked to imbibe on the job.
The barmaid knew that, too. That's why she coated the outside of the glasses with the fast-acting poison rather than putting it in their drinks.
Four men made their way through the pub. When they stopped at the table where the now-dead agents were, they pulled them up and quietly took them out the back.
The barmaid got out her iComm and dialed a number. "It's done, Mr. Lightman."
"Very good, Natasha," was Lightman's reply. "Make sure the glasses are cleaned properly."
Natasha Herbert disconnected the call and began the cleanup to throw investigators off of her scent. In a flat ten kilometers from the bar, Lightman made a few notes into his computer. The flash memo he created worked to perfection. And now it would simply be a matter of time before rumors start spreading the two agents were sold out by British Intelligence.