Sorry, all. I'm gonna stop promising quick updates. Because as soon as I think I have one nearly ready this silly thing called 'life' interferes, and then I feel guilty for lying to readers. So anyway, chapter updates will be up ASAP, but that doesn't mean I'll suddenly get faster with them.
Special thanks to anyone who reviews! I hope you all enjoy the chapter!
FYI: Lena/Claire= same person. I used them interchangeably.
"How many days off do you have?" She shifted from side to side impatiently as she waited at the back of the boarding line, inside the tunnel that led to the plane. A business man two people ahead of her in line turned around and gave her an angry glare, obviously upset she was talking on her cell. She shot a friendly smile back at him and continued her conversation. "Ok, that's sick that you count your time off in hours instead of days like normal people." The tunnel was stuffy. "Ok well, lets go though, when you get some serious time off like in between rotations or something?" stepped forward and the entrance to the plane became visible. "Look I got to go, I'm finally getting on. I'm last. Gosh No! I'm in business class I just…well you know how I get." She paused to listen to the person on the other end of the phone call then laughed slightly. "Whatever, go save someone's life, K?" she hung up the phone as she stepped over the threshold of the plane and greeted the stewardess. She squeezed carefully through the row of seats as she made her way back through the immense Airbus 340. She needed to shuffle her over-sized purse awkwardly in front of her to avoid hitting the other passengers. She waited for a rather large man to hoist his carry-on into the overhead before she was allowed to pass. She hated this part of the flight being stuck made her anxious, she looked behind her, she was the last one on the plane and only the stewardess stood between her and the exit. An escape route.
She looked again at her boarding pass. Claire Fisher, her alias for the flight was seated a few rows back from where she was now. She glanced down those few rows as she waited for another lady to get settled in her row before she could pass, a man with untidy dirty light brown hair, the type of hair that looked like he had run his hand through it million times was seated in her row. He grumbled softly to himself as he pecked away at something hidden behind the seats, a computer she decided. She let her eyes linger on him. He wasn't bad looking, in fact he was kinda cute in a nerdy comicon sort of way. There was an interesting way that the gray, no maybe blue, she wasn't close enough to tell. But his eyes softened the scowl on his face.
His eyes lifted settling immediately on Lena. She smiled as she stepped forward, his eyes grew wide and nervous, Lena held her gaze. He shifted his eyes away first.
"Excuse me," she said politely as she reached the row. She saw the man inhale deeply, just before looking up again. She reached over him and placed her oversized purse on the seat next to him. Blue, his eyes were blue.
She turned and reached for her carry-on bag. She carefully secured the handle, pulled her pillow from one of the side pockets, and grabbed the handles to hoist it above her head. "OH! I can get that!" The man next to her offered exuberantly as he leapt from his chair to grab the bag, jarring the laptop in front of him.
"Ok, Thank You." She answered as he launched the bag into the overhead compartment a little too roughly. He turned to face her, she felt his ice blue eyes cut through her. He very tall for a man, tall maybe two inches taller than her. He wore a simple gray t-shirt with a flannel and a zip-up hoodie over top. No, definately not GQ material she thought to herself, but she liked it. Her heart raced, and for a moment they stood in the aisle, awkwardly staring at each other. "Can I?" she gestured toward their row of seats that he was inadvertently standing infront of, blocking her from entering.
"Crap, yea , of course, sorry." He sat down after her and watched out of the corner of his eye as she took off her leather jacket and began to fumble with the contents of her purse. It was her chestnut eyes that seemed to go on forever, the smile that could stop traffic, the chocolate curls cascading midway down her back, and the way the simple white t-shirt grazed along her body that drew him in, and he wanted so badly to look at her. As his anxiety grew, he flagged down the stewardess. "I'll take a drink before take-off"
Five minutes passed as he sat nervously gulping down his drink. He averted his eyes, looking everywhere but at her. This was embarrassing; did she have any idea what her presence was doing to him? Finally he got up the nerve to speak to her, "I suppose I should introduce myself, we're gonna be here for a while. She brushed her hand against his on the arm rest as she turned slightly to look at him and again he lost his train of thought. "I'm Aaron," he said, giving her a fake name, a girl like that would never go for a guy named Seymour, he thought.
"Claire" Lena replied.
"That's a good name." he answered. What a stupid thing to say. He thought. She smiled cautiously.
"Thank You," she glanced away, wondering what to say next. "Are you a nervous traveler Aaron?" she asked gesturing to the drink he had finished in two gulps.
"Not usually…" He immediately hated himself for even ordering the drink. She was probably worried that she had just sat down next to an alcoholic who three hours into the flight would be drunker than a skunk, hitting on her, and eventually puking in her lap. He pushed the glass away, "I just don't like the take off part." He answered trying to cover for himself.
"I don't like the boarding part." She said with a half smile. "Or the exiting part, I don't like being trapped in the aisle." He knew she was trying to make him feel more at ease but what an inconsequential fear. It didn't help him, her sweet as honey voice made it worse. He wondered if she realized that his erratic heart rate had nothing to do with flying, it was entirely her presence that was causing him to act like a fool.
Ten hours later Birkhoff couldn't believe his luck. He'd managed to have a long, intelligent yet light hearted, almost flirty, conversation with the beautiful woman sitting next to him, and best of all, he was fairly confident she didn't think he was a freak. In fact, maybe, however absurd it sounded to him, she might even enjoy his company. Once he got over his early apprehension he'd found she was very easy to talk to. They talked about computers, movies, life, and best of all, she understood the accidental Lord of the Rings quote he inserted into the conversation. So she knew he was a nerd and she was still talking to him. But then again, what choice did she have? They were trapped next to each other on an all day flight.
Now she was asleep her head lightly resting against his shoulder, and he was trying to stay as still as humanly possible. He didn't want to wake her. If he woke her, she might move, and he didn't want that. Most of the other passengers were trying to sleep but Birkhoff was far from sleeping himself. In about an hour the plane would land in Cape Town and he and Claire would part ways forever. He toyed with the idea of asking her to dinner or maybe just out for a drink, but he was conflicted. He knew it would be best to part ways now, before he was attached. Well, before he was any more attached. Without even trying, he felt closer to her in ten short hours than he had to anyone in six years. He was amazed how fast it had happened.
At Division he never got attached to the agents. He learned his first week that they came and went. He tried to think of them as if they were on borrowed time. Any day they got to live was a gift or a curse, from Percy. It made it easier for him when they were cancelled or didn't come back from a mission. Sure, there had been a handful in the last six years that had slipped through his careful wall of emotional security but they were few and far between. There had been a girlfriend his first year with division, that was a huge mistake, and he knew he was making a huge mistake at the time. He'd chosen to do it anyway. Amanda had ample reason to recommended his cancellation that year but Percy had denied the request. Then there were two security technicians his first couple years, two… friends. When his friends were cancelled he changed. It was that year that he started to push people away with a vengeance. When those connections were severed he swore never to get attached to anyone like that again. It hurt too much to lose them. He'd broken that promise to himself though, he'd formed connections to people within division. He wouldn't call most of them friends but he cared whether certain agents came back after a mission. There had been four agents in the last three or four years that he monitored, none of them were romantic relationships, just connections. Maria, Carlos, Nikita, and Michael were the ones he watched. When Carlos died on a mission he didn't sleep for three days. When he saw the orders in the computer system to have Maria cancelled he threw up, then tried and failed to get Michael to intervene. When Nikita defected he felt conflicted, he missed her and he was jealous she accomplished something he could never do, but he was also glad to see someone go free. Michael was still around and after Nikita left he became the only person Birkhoff allowed himself to even half trust. They didn't have an easy relationship but he could let his guard down around Michael.
After years of pushing everyone away, he was surprised how fast it had happened, how fast the connection had formed. Any other relationship he'd had in the last six years had taken years to cultivate and usually he was aware of when he made the decision to allow himself to indulge the connection. He never made the choice to let Claire under in, but somehow she had found a place in his heart. He never made the choice to care, it simply happened.
Next to him the blanket slipped from her shoulder, he reached over and gently pulled it back up, letting his hand linger for a moment on her shoulder. The plane was unusually cold and even though he was comfortable he didn't want her to be chilled.
Percy would kill him if he did anything beyond this flight, and to Amanda his behavior on the flight alone would be evidence enough to warrant another cancellation recommendation. But he'd ask her to to go out for a drink, he thought, what's the worst that could happen. Rejection, that was the worst that could happen for most men. Rejection was the thing most nerds feared but also craved. Any woman that beautiful wouldn't want to be with him. If she did want to be with him it meant something was wrong with her. If she rejected him it would make him want her even more. He leaned his head back against the head rest and tried to close his eyes. For most men the ultimate fear was rejection, but that wasn't Birkhoff's primary concern. His fear was what would happen to both of them if she said 'yes'.
When they arrived in Cape Town they walked together through the airport. He was careful to keep a couple extra feet between them so they appeared only to be two people headed in the same direction, not a couple. Birkhoff's nerves were at an all time high. As he turned for the baggage claim area, he was shocked when she didn't immediately follow. He turned back and covered the few feet between them. "I didn't check a bag." She said with an embarrassed smile.
"How can you come all the way to South Africa for a week without checking a bag?" he questioned sharply, regretting the harshness in his voice that he had kept surprisingly in check during the flight. She shrugged her shoulders and gazed back at him with the deep brown eyes that made his chest tighten. He sighed then spoke again. "I'm going to go for a drink tonight; I'm staying at the Sun Cullinan. I'd like you to join me." He tried not to sound desperate. He tried not to sound nervous. He tried not to phrase it as a question. Women didn't like questions. Wasn't that what he read on one of those articles online? She hesitated for a second, to him it felt like a minute.
"Aaron, I'm exhausted, its late and I need to work tomorrow plus my car is here for me now…"
"Fine, that's fine. I just thought, never mind. Well it was nice to meet you Claire." He sputtered and held out his hand for her to shake. But she didn't take it, instead she did something he wasn't expecting. She asked him out…
"How about Wednesday night, I should be done with work by then. We could have dinner where I'm staying. The Bay Hotel, Tides restaurant? Say 8:30?"
"I…I… I'm not sure that's a good idea…"
"Why not?"
"You don't want to get involved with me…I just… My life is like really, complicated…"he sputtered
"Ok, so twenty seconds ago when you wanted me to go for a drink tonight your life wasn't complicated?"
"No, it was it's just…"
"You were looking for a one night stand. And a dinner is too much commitment for you?" She snapped.
"No! of course not!" he said 'One night is really my only option here.'He thought "I just… can't explain myself." He stammered. It wasn't like him to get tongue tied. He was usually full of sharp comebacks and witty responses, well he thought they were funny, most other people didn't.
"I think I should go. Goodbye Aaron." She said as she brushed coldly past his shoulder and toward the pickup area.
He felt sick to his stomach, but it was the right thing to do. He had to push her away not only for her sake but also his own, he couldn't handle it if anything happened to her because of him. She'd only end up hurt or killed, he had to hurt her to keep her away, it was what he signed up for. Percy had called it a second chance at life, but what Birkhoff didn't know was that the chance at a second life Percy offered, was really just another version of death row.
The next morning Lena synched the leather draw string on her brand new Elizabeth and James, floral skirt. She'd fallen in love with the skirt at Nordstrom's two weeks ago and had it shipped directly to the hotel in South Africa, along with an exquisite knock off pair of Manolo Blahnik shoes strappy heels and the rest of her wardrobe for the trip. The skirt was about two inches shorter than what her father would deem appropriate for a business meeting but still three or four inches too long for a night club. She slipped on a black blazer and purse and ran out to the car waiting for her at the main entrance to the hotel.
After almost a two hour car ride she arrived at the Diamond warehouse. It was built far away from any village or town. The warehouse closer resembled a nuclear missile silo than any warehouse she was used to seeing in the United States.
She walked through the underground entrance to the facility where she was greeted by the head engineer, Peter. "The appointment is already here." He told her, she could tell he was annoyed with something.
"How long?"
"Since seven."
"Two hours!" she gasped. It was nine and the appointment wasn't supposed to arrive until ten.
"Yep. So I'm gonna leave him to you if you don't mind, I could use a break…."
"A break?"
"Trust me, you'll need a break after two hours too… he's a… oh hell, he's a jack ass."
"Do you have a name?"
"No, he won't even give me a fake name. And I'm afraid that if I run him through facial identification he'll know."
"Yea he probably will, is he wired in?"
"has been the entire time he's been here." The engineer led Lena to the control room. "He's all yours, I'll be back in an hour to check on him." He opened the door wide enough for Lena to step through. "Sir this is…."
The man at the computers held up a hand to silence the engineer but didn't look up from his work. "You, go away. The security tech can stay."
Lena raised her eyebrows sharply at being called a security tech. She heard the engineer stifle a laugh behind her as he closed the door.
"Shut up and stay out of my way." The man with the stringy brown hair said without turning his head to look at her. She recognized him immediately, he was "Aaron" from the flight down. He hadn't shaved and he hadn't showered since the plane. "Make yourself useful and get me another red bull this one's empty." He commanded while rattling the nearly empty can menacingly.
She strided confidently across the room and pushed the tablet computer sitting on the desk to his right off to the side and sat down in its place. "Do I look like your waitress?" She asked as she spun his chair to face her, then catching the chair with her foot, securely between his legs.
"CLAIRE!" He yelled as he jumped back out of the chair knocking it over behind him. "Oh God, Claire. What are you doing here?"
"I'm doing my job, I have developed the skill to do mine without being rude to everyone around me!"
Birkhoff stood a few feet away frozen in place, his eyes darting from side to side. He didn't move, and wasn't speaking. "Aaron?" she said loudly, wondering if she had somehow sent him into a seizure. She slid off the table and took a few steps toward him but still his eyes zoomed around the room, not focusing in any particular area.
"Ok, I got it!" he yelled suddenly, he slid his hand around her waist and guided her back to the computers. "Shut down the cameras!"
"Uh, No."
He sighed and shook his head "Shut down the camera's please."
"No!" He gave her another exasperated look.
"I don't have time to explain this you just need to do it."
"Absolutely not." She wasn't in the mood to take orders from him.
"Fine!" he shouted as he turned and began typing on his computer, "Then it's your funeral." His fingers were ablaze on the keyboard.
"What are you talking about?"
"My company, they can't know that we've met before. We need to shut down the cameras, edit the time stamp, and splice the feed, then start them up again and re-record a new meeting. It'll be messy but I don't think anyone will be paying close attention to this feed. And I am not familiar enough with your system to do that quickly." He answered still typing on the computer, his eyes averted from her.
"You can't do that."
"Oh, I can, but it will take me awhile. But with your access you can do it instantly."
"You're lying. They wouldn't kill me simply for knowing who you are?"
"You're underestimating them… never do that." He answered crossly. Then he glanced up at her his eyes were pleading with her to do what he was asking. She looked back at him, trying with all her might to become a human lie detector, she couldn't detect deception. He seemed genuinely concerned, whether that was for her safety or his own was unclear.
"If this is a trick…"
"It's not a trick, I swear to you."
"But how do I believe you? You've already lied to me."
"No, I told you I worked with computers… I never lied about that."
"You're name then. Aaron is an alias."
"yea it is, but you gave me a fake name too…My name is Birkhoff. And I am not lying to you about what my employer's will do if they know we've met before."
Lena stepped back cautiously then pulled her gun from her bag. Birkhoff threw his hands instinctually into the air. "Good, Nice," she could have sworn she heard idiot muttered under his breath "now we have to loop the feed." He sighed loudly again, clearly annoyed. "Now, with guns a blazing and shit, you're a threat."
"Disarm please." She said forcefully. This wasn't how she had intended the meeting to go. She wasn't sure if she should trust him, she didn't know enough about his organization to know if he was telling the truth, but from what she had been told by Forester and her father, she knew they were very dangerous.
"I'm not armed." He answered
"and I'm not stupid." She hissed "Against the wall!" When he complied she shoved her gun in the waistband of her skirt. He leaned up against the wall and spread his arms and legs.
"Told you." He answered when she was satisfied.
"Sit!" she snapped as she backed toward the computers.
"On the floor? Really?"
"Yes. On the floor. Now!" She then sat down in his chair and began to type. She had to believe him, he hadn't given her a reason not to. It took her two minutes to shut off the cameras, splice the feed and reprogram the time marker. "It's sloppy but it will do."
"How long until they're back online?" He asked.
Lena didn't answer him, she didn't want him to know he had three minutes of down time.
"Fair enough, I wouldn't tell you either…"
"Get up." She said, letting her annoyance surround her words. She backed away from the computers, picked up her bag and secured the gun. "I'll come in again, and we'll start over."
As she reached the door she heard his voice behind her, "I told you my name," he called. She ignored him, and opened the door to start over.
Six hours later she sat on the opposite side of the table monitoring his every move on her network with her tablet. He wasn't close enough to hacking the system to do any damage, but he hadn't gone for her best trap either. She was still pleased with her work. What she wasn't pleased with was the energy that was flowing between the two of them. He hadn't been openly rude since she walked in the second time but his words to her were short and curt, he hadn't even made eye contact with her in four hours, not like she was counting or anything. She watched as he rubbed his hands through his hair almost continuously. He slipped gold framed glasses on and off his face every few minutes, all the while typing on the laptop in front of him. Never looking up.
"Alright," He said suddenly, "I'm satisfied, with this part."
"Good." Lena answered, confidently.
"I need onsite access to the advanced security locker."
"No."
"Right, you don't have access." He said sarcastically "So, call your supervisor and get access or I walk."
Lena stood up and paced across the room. She didn't like being bossed around by anyone, but she needed this group to hide their secrets in her system, that was the point of this mission she reminded herself. She needed access. So, maybe for now, she would cautiously play along. "I'll see what I can do." She said and left the room.
Ten minutes later she returned, with clearance to take Birkhoff to the high security locker, 95 kilometers away. The security chief wasn't happy about the change in protocol, he said he'd been assured that the only access they needed was in the main building, but begrudgingly he'd allowed the visit. Lena would escort Birkhoff, if that even was his real name, into the other facility where he could conduct the tests he wanted. Lena would monitor him the entire time to ensure data was not being transferred.
"Let's Go." She said shortly and walked back out the door. He followed closely as she led him upstairs to the parking lot where three company vehicles were parked. She walked to one of the vehicles on the far side of the lot and got in on the driver's side. He got in on the otherside and together they rode in silence for another few minutes.
"Ok," he said quietly out of the blue "So what I said in the airport-"
"The part about me being a potential one night stand?"
"No, let me finish!" He barked. "The part about my life being complicated, that was true."
"I figured." She answered. "But, you forget. I asked you to dinner. I didn't propose."
"You don't understand."
"Then fill me in." she said "I think I'm already on my way."
"I doubt that." He scoffed
"You work for a dangerous group of people, cause only dangerous people ask to send network specialists to inspect the security system of a diamond dealer, and only really dangerous people would actually be granted access." She declared confidently. "How am I doing so far?"
He felt his blood pressure rise. What she knew was simple to deduct he decided, nothing beyond the skills of an average security system designer. "I don't know what you are talking about."
"Lie."
"Screw you." he cursed
"Lie." Her voice was taunting.
"What?"
"You're pushing me away. I know you are, cause you like me. Aaron liked me on the plane, but when this Birkhoff guy got involved you got scared." He shook his head back and forth looking out the far window away from her.
"So what. Even if you were right, and I'm not saying you were! Nothing can happen!"
She decided to push a little more. "I think you're afraid to go off the reservation. So in order to stay sane, you put your head down, you don't think, and you do what you're told."
"You are on dangerous ground." He warned "and I do what I do to stay alive! To stay strong… I sacrificed sanity a long time ago."
"But holding people away and denying yourself friendship, it doesn't make you strong it makes you weaker. Because you do it out of fear."
He looked out the window quiet for a few moments. He knew she was right, he'd held people at arms length for so long he wasn't sure he knew how to let them in. Then he met her and she broke through the wall as easily as if it was made of straw. That had to mean something? He didn't want her to hate him. "I'm not a coward you know."
"Being afraid, is not the same as being a coward."
"So I can trust you?" he asked and Lena nodded. "Then I have a question. What's your name?" His voice was calm but compelling.
"I told you…"
"you told me an alias just like I told you"
"That's kinda a complicated question." She answered evasively
"No, it doesn't get much easier than that."
"Claire."
"Lie."
"No, its not. My name is Lena, but its also Claire. Like I said it's complicated."
"So what should I call you?"
"I'd like you to call me Claire."
"Alright, Claire, Do you know another route to the facility?"
"What?" she questioned, she didn't expect the sudden change in subject. "this is the fastest way."
"I didn't ask if you knew the fastest way, I asked if you know another way to get there?"
"I don't know."
"Well, I think we should get off the main road."
She sighed, she didn't know where he was going with this but she wasn't in the mood for any more surprises today.
"I know I'm asking a lot here, but if you trust me, then I'll trust you." She waited a moment. All her training told her not to trust him, her father would have told her not to trust him, so would Forester. She knew who he worked for and how could she even consider trusting him. But hadn't she just told him not to push people away...she decided to give him a chance.
"There's a turn off, about 5 kilometers ahead. I'll get off there."
"Thanks." He whispered as he straightened himself up in the passenger seat.
Suddenly Lena was aware of everything, she saw the oncoming Black LandRover cross the center line into her lane. One man was driving the vehicle, and he looked eerily calm. She veered to the Left. "OH, Crap!" she heard from the seat next to her. The edge of the road raced toward her. The ravine next to the road wasn't deep but steep enough that it was unlikely she could control the SUV if they went over it. She hit the breaks hard, but she was too close. Glass shattered around her and airbags went off in all directions.
When the SUV finally came to a stop Lena coughed through the airbag powder. She hung upside down suspended by her seatbelt, only a mere inch or two between her head and the crumpled roof of the truck. Her side of the SUV was crumpled badly. She quickly surveyed the escape route like all good spies should do. She couldn't get out from her end. Then she heard a voice. Someone was approaching the car. She franticallly reached for the seatbelt release only to find it jammed. A hand closed around hers startling her, she nearly screamed. She'd forgotten he was in the car.
She looked over toward the passenger seat. His eyes were open, a small amount of blood ran across his forehead. He released her hand then winced as he reached back behind her head and pulled her bag and took out her gun. He handed the gun to her.
"Birkhoff!" she heard someone yell from outside the vehicle
"If you get a clear shot you take it. Because if you don't he will." Birkhoff whispered "I'm here!" He yelled louder so the man could hear "I can't get out."
"And the girl?"
"She's dead." He lied as he looked at Lena.
Soon she heard the man prying at the metal to get the door open. "It's ok." He mouthed to her, "You're mission plan sucked by the way! You easily could have killed me in the process!" he yelled louder so the man outside could hear.
"Collateral damage, either way I took the target." He answered as pulled on the door.
"When I say." He mouthed to her again. She nodded.
She held the gun shakily in her left hand as she watched the pair of feet kick around the dirt as they pried at Birkhoff's door.
"Put that away!" Birkhoff snapped at the man "Get me out of this dam car, then you can confirm the kill." She watched as the man placed a semi-automatic weapon behind him in the dirt. He pulled Birkhoff from the decrepit vehicle. Birkhoff cried out, and yelled in pain throughout the whole process, Lena wondered how badly he was hurt. Although she was shaking uncontrollably she didn't think she was hurt badly. The man outside pushed Birkhoff of to the side then she saw him plant is feet to look down into the vehicle to confirm his kill. She took the gun and aimed it toward what had been the window. Before she saw the man's full face she fired.
"I want two weeks!" he argued into the phone as he paced back and forth across the patio. "I have over three months in leave time built up and I haven't used a day in two years!"
"Why now? You tell Amanda to have a division cleaner break three of her ribs then have her hop a 24 hour plane ride to South Africa!"
"Then go clear it with Percy! I earned this time, Michael." He tapped the phone to end the call and placed it carefully on the railing of the deck. He stepped cautiously down the five stairs, trying not to aggravate his ribs, and walked down the path toward the beach. He found her there waiting. She was sitting contently in the sand digging her toes down into the sand then pulling them out again.
Sat down behind her, wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in close to his uninjured shoulder.
"what I did yesterday…" she trailed off and Birkhoff waited. "that man…"He'd been hearing these types of phrases all day. The recruits at Division were usually quieter about their first kill, but then he knew that showing remorse would not be acceptable around Division.
"You acted in self defense." He said as he pressed his face into her hair. "That man, he's killed many times, and he would have killed again after he killed you. You did the right thing."
"It didn't feel like self defence… it was still wrong."
"Maybe, but things aren't always black and white."
"have you ever?" she asked tearfully. He hesitated.
"I can't answer that."
"I'm sorry," she said "I'm truly not to interrogate you."
"I know." He knew she was just feeling the normal guilt that surrounded what she had just done. He would have been nervous if she didn't express some remorse but he still couldn't give her information about his involvement with division. He wanted to comfort her but he had no idea how to do that. "How about this. I think we both have things we can't talk about. So we don't ask questions we can't answer ourselves."
"Ok." She agreed after thinking for a moment. Then immediately tested his new rule. She turned suddenly to face him. "Why now? Why risk them finding out about a relationship now?"He winced slightly at her sudden movement against her chest "Sorry!" she apologized
He took two slow breaths, then whispered "I'm ok, you answer first."
"Ok, I'm not afraid of my employer. They don't have a problem with me dating, as long as I remain confidential to my clients." She said easily. It was true, the alliance didn't seem to care, in fact they had always encouraged cover relationships. Especially relationships that held a mutual advantage to the organization. She was sure Forester might have a thing or two to say about her dating Birkoff, a member of the very group they were working to stop but she wasn't afraid of him. "your turn."
"You."
"I just answered! Its your turn and your rule!"
"No," he laughed slightly then stopped immediately because of the sharp pain in his chest. "I hadn't met you." He leaned froward and kissed her forehead. "I just know now. It's you." He whispered, then he put a finger under her chin and tilted her face up to meet his he lowered his head until he was cheek to cheek with her, he hesitated a moment before he allowed his lips to caress hers. As he touched her lips with his, he was sure, he wanted to stay here, with her, forever.
A/N: Whew! Super. Long. Chapter. Congrats you made it to the end! Now let me know how I did by reviewing :)
Yea romance, kinda a stretch for me. I don't really read romance outside of fanfiction, so its hard for me to write it. But I love Birkhoff, and I want him get a date! lol. I know I played Birkhoff a little OOC here, but he is outside of division for this chapter. If you want my explanation please see my profile page, I loaded a little note there about my take on Birkhoff's character.
Thanks for reading!