I still don't own Chuck. I'm not sure who does at this point.

Fair warning. There is a fairly explicit sex scene in this chapter, still not smut, but perhaps more explicit in description than anything I've done before. But it is in Russian. It doesn't seem quite as dirty in Russian. :) It's probably not necessary to understand Russian to get the point of what Chuck and Sarah are doing. So if you take the effort to translate it (or you read Russian) you have only yourself to blame.

I understand that there isn't a review function on this site. But I would still appreciate your comments. The worst thing for an author is silence. You can't tell if you're connecting with your readers, if they're getting where you think the story is going or not. And those comments don't have to be praise. Of course, I'd be lying if I tried to say that I don't enjoy the praise. But I actually learn more from the critical comments. Just as long as you're respectful and allow me to respond, you can say anything.

Some Random Russian Guy

x-x-x-x-x

Bryce stood uncomfortably in Volkoff's bedroom. By their state of barely there dress, he and Frost were clearly getting ready for a wild time of their own. "Thank you for helping me bypass your normal security and letting her bring him in," he said. "I'm thinking that would have messed up the mood."

"No problem, my friend," Alexei said with an affectionate slap on Bryce's back and a nod towards the huge monitor. "This is going to be quite the exciting show. You broke her in only a little over one day. How did you ever get her to agree so quickly?"

That got a grin. "It's going to be very exciting," Bryce said. "Whoever this random guy from the bar is… he is one lucky bastard. She has been instructed to follow a script that I think you might enjoy. It was fairly easy. Once she was secured and naked, she quickly realized the inevitability of her position. It turns out that she was absolutely frantic that I wear a condom. She actually broke down and cried when she was begging me. It was a massive turn on. So she tried to negotiate. She would have done absolutely anything I asked to talk me into putting on that condom. After I made her prove that conclusively to me a couple of times, I thought that you might like a private demonstration of Agent Walker totally broken. Trust me. She'll be in here in the morning, meekly knocking on your door, ready to agree to anything you might demand. A shame really. I could have enjoyed a couple more nights of that action. She is amazingly beautiful. Maybe we can work something out."

Alexei Volkoff wasn't easily impressed. That was quite an understatement. But this turned the trick. He was very impressed. "Well done, Bryce," he said. "Did she give you any trouble?"

That got even a bigger grin. "She fought like a woman possessed," Bryce said. "You didn't tell me that she was so skilled. She even got a couple of pretty good shots in. My ribs are still a little sore. But in the end, her skills were no answer for the Intersect. I toyed with her a bit to prove that to her with no question. But she was quickly enough helpless."

x-x-x-x-x

Joan really didn't think that she would like Carina. They were about as opposite of personalities as one could imagine. Not only that, but Joan was quickly getting pretty close to Laura. And even though they were also very different people, once they got to talking, they clearly liked each other. In fact they were quickly developing something of a sister thing. And Laura wasn't shy about letting it be known that she didn't care for Carina all that much, in fact, considered her a rival.

So it was a little surprising to Joan to find that she did like her. She was appropriately serious when it was needed but she was also very funny at other times. And for having the clear reputation for fucking her way through life's problems, once Joan actually talked to her, Carina was much smarter than people gave her credit for. So they were quickly becoming, well, maybe not sisters… but friends.

But one thing was for sure, Joan was getting entirely tired of Carina's never ending attempts to play mind fuck with her. Enough with the suggestive sexual innuendo already. Yes, their cover was as a couple. Okay, she maybe understood logically why it was a good idea. It was something that her and her new husband would definitely be chatting about very soon. But really, did Carina have to constantly pick at her by always suggesting explicit girl-on-girl activities to protect the cover? Insisting that they hold hands like a couple of teenagers walking into the plant? And on top of that, picking a hotel room with only a single bed?

Oh it was in good fun. Joan understood that. She knew for sure that Carina was only joking. And Joan had to admit, if the tables had been turned, she would probably be having as much fun right now as Carina clearly was. But the perpetual smirk on Carina's face was getting a little tiresome.

There had to be a way to take her down a peg. But how? She was clearly afraid of Steven. So that was a possible weapon. At first Joan thought that she was kidding. After all, who could possibly be afraid of Steven? Her Steven wouldn't hurt a fly. He was the sweetest, nicest guy in the world. If you needed it, he would literally give you the shirt off his back. If anything, he was too nice. But Joan finally became convinced that she was honestly, if not afraid, at the very least incredibly intimidated. Laura was as well, maybe to a lesser extent. Joan made a mental note that the next time they had a few hours to themselves she would ask him for the honest truth of what exactly it was about Orion that scared these otherwise fearless, hardcore spies so badly.

With all of that Joan couldn't help the grin from appearing as Carina finally came out of the bathroom, still drying her hair. Her choice of sleepwear probably wasn't designed to poke another barb her way. More than likely, that red negligee was what she was used to sleeping in. Probably on most nights she didn't wear it for all that long anyway. But the fact of the matter was it didn't hide a single thing. Joan had honestly never seen anything so overtly sexy. It was almost not worth putting on. All it did was make Carina's naked body look red. If anything, it made her nakedness more pronounced than if she was actually naked. By comparison, it made Joan's plain nightgown look like something grandma would wear. No wonder Carina was so good at the seduction thing. Joan made a mental note that when this was over she would drag Laura out to help her shop for something similar to surprise her new husband. They could even include Ellie as long as she didn't realize who the intended recipient of the surprise was going to be. That might be a little fun.

"Did you talk to Orion?" Carina asked as she finished dealing with her damp hair.

Joan took full notice of the caution in her voice. Why was she so tense? They had done everything today exactly as he had planned. It had gone perfectly. "I did," she answered. "I could only stay on for a second. He had Ellie on the other line. Everything is go for tomorrow." Joan knew that she wouldn't be able to talk to him long. This was a mission. But she was hoping for a little more. After all, this was the first time he had been out of her sight for more than a few minutes in weeks. They should still be on their honeymoon. She missed him terribly. Still, it was nice to hear his voice. And he did make it a point to say how much he missed her. That was nice. Plainly, currently Ellie needed him more. Joan was fine with that.

Carina couldn't hide her relief. But then her face quickly morphed into the smirk that Joan had already grown to dread. And she was right. "You did well today, rookie," Carina said softly as she padded over to the bed where Joan was sitting. "Real well. You deserve a reward. What would you like?"

Joan could only shake her head in disgust. Oh, she knew that Carina was partially right. She had done real well today. It was even less tense than she feared. After Carina pulled out the credentials that Steven had produced for them and got them into the facility, planting the virus that could only have happened from the inside was a piece of cake. Now Orion could shut the plant down with a single keystroke any time he wanted. It would take the plant's technical folks weeks to figure out what happened. After only a couple of days the plant management would be out of cash and be forced to go to Volkoff for emergency funding. If they couldn't get that, they would be forced to cease operations and eventually the assets be seized by its creditors. Hopefully tomorrow's assignment would go as easy. Then it would be back on the plane, back home… well, back to what had become their home anyway.

But Carina was clearly playing mind fuck again. The way that she said 'reward' was clearly suggestive. And if there had been any question, Carina made sure that her breast rubbed against Joan's arm on her way past. Now she sitting on the bed next to her, far closer than would be appropriate, grinning from ear to ear.

This crap simply had to stop.

"Okay," Joan said softly. "I give."

Carina clearly did a double take. "You give?" she asked. "What do you give?"

Joan bit her lip to keep the smile from showing. Maybe this was going to be a little fun. "Everything," she sighed. "I give up everything."

"I really need a big favor."

x-x-x-x-x

As soon as Bryce left, Mary came over and joined Alexei sitting on the side of the bed. On the monitor, Sarah was just leading her new random Russian guy pickup into the bedroom. Since Alexei was riveted to the monitor like the plan for world domination might flash across the screen, she put her hand on his cheek and actually turned his head to look at her. That was a pretty bold move to pull on Alexei Volkoff, especially in this situation. But she wanted to make sure she had his undivided attention. "Don't worry," she said, making sure her smile was warm and relaxed. "I won't let you miss any of the show."

Alexei's grin said that he knew what was on her mind. "Come, my love," he said. "There is no reason to be jealous."

Mary joined his grin. They both knew full well that jealousy wasn't an emotion that she was allowed. It wasn't their deal, never had been, and never would be. But stroking his ego a little was always a good thing. "She's breathtaking," she said. "I can definitely see the attraction. But you're only going to looking at her tonight. You're going to be feeling me. Anyway, that's not really what I wanted to say. I know why she was so frantic that Larkin wear a condom that she was willing to negotiate so freely."

That actually got Alexei's full attention. "Why?" he asked.

"They are clearly planning on starting a family," Mary said softly. "It's pretty obvious. She would do anything to make sure that her first child isn't Bryce Larkin's. That would put a major dent in anyone's relationship."

Alexei thought about it for a moment… and realized that she was right. It was true that he didn't impress easily. But now he was impressed for the second time in ten minutes. "Well done," he said. "Imagine, we're going to have something of a grandson to bounce on our knee."

That got Mary laughing. "I'm thinking the first one will be a granddaughter," she said. "But even if I'm wrong, I don't imagine that the proud parents are going to be all that eager to have Alexei Volkoff spoiling their first son. No offense."

Alexei joined her laugh. "None taken," he said. "You're probably right."

Mary got more serious. "We just found another weapon to use against her," she said. "She just proved it. Agent Walker would never have submitted to him just to save herself. Her husband… maybe. But her first child… she'll do anything we demand. We are going to use that to have our second Intersect. She is going to make very sure that he is our very willing soldier. Then she is going to lead us to Orion. We both know what that means." Mary sighed and put the smile back on her face. "But we can discuss that later. For right now we have a show to watch."

Sarah had clearly negotiated with Larkin over how many lights would be on. She had made the room fairly dark. And while they couldn't see all that much, they could see the silhouette of her and her random Russian dude. One thing was for sure. Anyone that she would be able to pick up in a bar anyplace around here would certainly understand exactly where he currently was… and be more than a little uncomfortable over it. So the first round of kissing was clearly designed to get him over whatever tension he was feeling. If the intensity of the necking was any indication, he was quickly over any hesitancy to be in Alexei Volkoff's compound. Then again, Agent Walker was trained for exactly this sort of contingency. She quickly proved it as she got him warmed up for the main action.

Naturally she had a script to follow. It was a simple script. And just as naturally it was designed to appeal to Alexei's tastes. So she broke the long series of kisses to face him with a soft smile.

У меня есть признание, чтобы сделать. У меня есть что-то тайные фантазии. Я хочу быть собственностью. Так что для остальных в ночь вы говорите идет, ничего от стола. Разве это справедливо?

Mary could see the mark noticeably grin. Clearly he was liking Larkin's script so far. What man wouldn't?

Давайте проверим, мы должны? Почему не вы снять рубашку для меня?

Ладно вы прошли это испытание. Продолжай. Делаете это медленно.

It's funny, Mary had lived in Russia for the past twenty years. But she had never mastered the language all that well. Alexei always spoke English. And English was also the universal business language… even when the business was world domination. She usually only got about a third of the words, not enough to follow a conversation. So she really didn't understand what the mark was saying to her. But she didn't have to. It was plainly obvious as Walker began the slow, sensuous strip tease. When Mary glanced at Alexei, just as Walker was sliding her panties down those long legs, he was staring at the monitor like his life depended on it.

Вы невероятно красиво. Сидеть на кровати и показать мне, как включен Вы находитесь. Возьмите правую руку и дать мне шоу.

Откройте ваши ноги шире. Позвольте мне видеть, что вы делаете.

Mary had to smile to herself. Walker clearly knew where the camera was. She had positioned herself on the bed such that most of what you could see was the mark's back. Then again, it didn't take much imagination to tell what sort of show that her hand was currently performing for him.

Очень хорошо. Теперь приходят здесь, получить на колени и получить меня готовы для вас.

Again, you couldn't see much after Sarah got up from the bed and kneeled in front of the mark. You could plainly hear his zipper being lowered. But the occasional silhouette of Walker's head bobbing made it plainly obvious what was happening. Poor Alexei looked like he was about to have a stroke. So like any dedicated woman would, she got down on her own knees and replicated Walker's actions.

After only a few short moments, Alexei had clearly seen enough and was ready for some serious action. He picked her up in one swift movement and placed her on the bed. Mary knew from experience what was quickly coming. She barely had time to get her knees in the air before he was entering her. She really couldn't see the monitor from her position, but from the grunts, Walker was getting pounded almost as hard as she was.

Труднее. Перейти сложнее. Ебать меня сильнее

And this time Mary actually understood what Walker just said. After all, she had heard the phrase many times from Alexei's frequent conquests. And for once, she actually agreed with her. It had been a long time since Alexei had been this aroused. It was amazing. As it turned out this Walker was good for something after all.

Mary was actually working on her second orgasm when the idea hit her. She could teach this cocky bitch a serious lesson and give her man a wonderful present all at the same time.

x-x-x-x-x

As soon as Sarah turned off the lights and was safely under the covers, Chuck turned to her. "I really missed you," he said, keeping his voice low. "I don't think I got a minute's sleep last night without you."

Sarah wasted no time snuggling into her favorite position. "That's so sweet," she said in the same low voice, little more than a whisper. "Not half as much as I missed you."

"Was that good enough?" Chuck asked. "Do you think that they bought it?"

Chuck couldn't hear her laughing. But he could feel it as she snuggled comfortably. "It was incredible," she said. "You were a perfect random Russian guy. Your accent was spot on. The Intersect's Russian was a dialect of some kind. We'll have to ask Joan about that when we get back. But I could understand it. We'll have to talk about facial hair for real sometime. It's pretty sexy. Please promise me that we can do this again at home sometime… soon… in English… when Alexei Volkoff isn't watching. Did he buy it? We'll find out soon enough."

Chuck asked the question that was burning a whole in his head. "Did you and Bryce sleep in the same bed last night?" After all, he knew that it was a possibility. There was probably only one bed… and they had to sell the cover.

The pitiful sound in his voice actually got her laughing even harder. Instead of answering, she reached over to his arm, grabbed two fingers full of hair and twisted them, maybe not totally in anger, but certainly not playfully.

Chuck definitely got her message. "Damn," he quickly said as he jerked his arm out of her immediate reach. "That hurt. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to sound jealous."

Sarah was still laughing. "Then stop sounding jealous," she said. "You're being ridiculous. Mrs. Charles Bartowski is putting her foot down here. If you're going to insist that Bryce is a good guy and deserves to be part of our life, then you no longer have my permission to be jealous of him. Not that you ever did, but you no longer have any reason. If I haven't conclusively proven to you by now how incredibly, unbelievably, borderline pathetically dedicated that I am to you… I simply don't know what to tell you. So get those nasty thoughts totally out of your head and don't let them back in. You can consider that an order. And just to set the record straight, Bryce slept on the sofa in the other room last night. As pissed as I still am at him, I have to admit that it was a very nice gesture. After all, I am married to a genius. You were totally right about him. He's really trying. So… as long as we're on the subject, who did you sleep with last night?"

All Chuck could do was to join her laughing. "Very funny," he said. He knew that changing the subject was currently a very good idea. "When we do this at home, can you go back to being blonde?"

"What?" Sarah asked in mock horror. "You don't think that the black hair is sexy? I thought that you had a thing for brunettes. You don't like the new look Sarah?"

Chuck shook his head firmly. "Not even a little bit," he said. "Don't get me wrong. You're the most beautiful woman in the world no matter what your hair color. And if you ever wanted to change it for real someday, I'd be supportive. But it feels like I'm cheating. I know that sounds crazy. But I feel like I'm cheating on you… with you. I don't like that feeling."

Sarah snuggled into him a little closer. "It does sound a little crazy," she sighed. "But it also sounds incredibly sweet."

"I'm sorry if that comes across as possessive," Chuck said. "I probably no longer have your permission to be possessive either."

"That's where you're wrong," Sarah said. "You'll always have my permission to get as possessive as you'd like. In fact I encourage it. I belong to you. I love it when you stand up and stake claim to what's yours. It's a massive turn on for me. Similarly you belong to me. I'm actually twice as possessive as you are. Anyone who would challenge that isn't going to know what hit them. I'm perfectly willing to stand up and stake claim to what's mine. It's something that I think your mom is going to find out the hard way."

Chuck held her silently for a long time. "You're in an awful good mood considering our circumstance," he said. "Care to tell me why?"

"That one's easy," Sarah said. "I have the most amazing husband. My biggest fear for the past week was that I'd have to change too much to do what was required… that I'd have to set the life aside that I was loving so much and become Agent Walker again with all of her stupid baggage in order to complete my mission. He taught me that I didn't need to change at all."

Sarah paused for a moment and got a little emotional. "He's incredible," she said, her voice no more than a whisper to keep it from breaking. "I have no idea how to tell him how much I love him using words. I know that he likes to hear it. I know that I'm cheating him. But I promise to spend the next sixty years or so working on it, showing him with my actions when I can't say it with words, sometimes as a brunette if that's what it takes."

Chuck pulled her close. "Stop trying so hard," he said. "For one thing, you're doing great. You know that I feel exactly the same way about you, right?"

That got Sarah giggling again. "I do," she said. "I'm having fun. Chuck, I'm actually having fun on a mission. That's something of a first for Agent Walker. I really enjoyed telling off your mom yesterday." Then her voice turned a little sly. "Another first is the orgasm thing. That's something that Agent Walker never came close to during a mission… much less three in a row. So thank you for that."

That got Chuck joining her laughing. "Don't get cocky," he cautioned. "We still have some work to do. There are still things that could go wrong. But I'm glad that you're having fun, not to mention the multiple orgasms. Are you rethinking retiring?"

"No way," Sarah quickly said. "Part of the reason I'm having so much fun is that I know this is the last time I'll ever have to do it. I'm looking forward to starting our family so much that I can hardly wait. Besides, based upon past experience, I'm pretty confident that civilian Sarah Bartowski is still going to be treated to plenty of multiple orgasms."

That got them both laughing again for a long moment. After they stopped laughing, they just stayed cuddled with each other for so long that Chuck thought she had fallen asleep. Finally Sarah stirred. "Do you think that I'll be a good mom?" she asked, so pathetically that it made Chuck notice. "I want it so badly. I just don't want to mess it up. I'm sort of panicked about that. Let's face it, neither of us have anything in our background to show us what a good parent is. What should we do?"

Chuck smiled. "You're being silly," he said. "Name me one single thing that you've ever honestly tried to do and haven't been perfect at."

"That's easy," Sarah said. "I suck at being a good wife. I'm trying so hard and all I keep doing is exactly the wrong, stupidly insensitive things."

Chuck reached over and grabbed her arm, perhaps not angrily, but also not gently. "Okay," he said firmly. "Now it's me who is putting his foot down. I'm totally done hearing you say that you're not a good wife. Get that nasty thought out of your head right now and never let it back in. The truth is that you're an awesome wife, almost too good to be true. Whatever mistakes you make from inexperience are far more than compensated by the fact that you're so fanatical about it. You throw everything you have into making me happy. Nobody in the whole world is loved as much as I am. That's exactly how it's going to be with the kids. Maybe there will be situations where we won't always exactly know what to do, me every bit as much as you. But we're not our parents. We're never going to be. We'll love them so much that our inexperience won't really matter. We'll figure it out… together. I want to hear that you understand that. You can consider that an order."

Sarah had never needed to hear something like she needed to hear that from him, never, ever. How did he always know exactly what to say? He was right. She perhaps didn't have a clue what to do… but together they could do absolutely anything. They had proven it conclusively time after time after time. So she made no attempt to wipe the happy tears from her eyes. "Yes, sir," she said. "I do understand. Thank you for being such an awesome husband and patiently correcting me." Then she took her hand and slowly and conspicuously slid it under the sheet down his stomach. Since they were both still naked, it wasn't very long at all before she had a handful of… well, of Chuck. She paused in her journey of following her hand beneath the sheet and kissing her way down his body at his stomach to look up at him and grin in the darkness.

"I seriously don't think you totally get what it does to me when you issue me orders."

x-x-x-x-x

Sarah didn't really wait for an invitation to enter the room. She just firmly knocked on the bedroom door, waited for a brief moment, and barged in. Fortunately they were plainly expecting her and were both more or less dressed.

This was the part of the mission that Sarah perhaps wasn't looking forward to quite as much. Pretending to surrender to Alexei Volkoff wasn't high on her list of favorite things. And the smirk that was already on his face told her that he had no intention of making this easy on her.

"Agent Walker," Alexei said with a grin. "We really enjoyed your show last night. Thank you for that. I expect from now on, you'll show me the proper respect and wait for an invitation before barging into my bedroom. Now what can I do for you?"

Mary interrupted Sarah's planned speech. "Wait a moment," she said. "Before we go any further, there is something between us that needs to be settled. I want my bracelet back."

If Alexei was surprised, he didn't show it. His grin simply widened.

Sarah knew that her primary task was to keep them occupied for a few hours while Chuck and Bryce were doing their thing. And what better way to do that than to go down to the ring? If she got to take a few swings at this bitch who had caused Chuck and Ellie so much pain, that was icing on the cake. "Great," she said. "Let's go right now. I'm going to enjoy watching you try and take it from me."

"Not so fast," Mary said with a knowing glance towards Alexei. "You're far too arrogant for my tastes. I think that it's time that someone put you in your place. So we're going to raise the stakes. The second that you lose, you immediately walk over to Alexei and give him the same treatment that you did for that skinny Russian dude last night."

Sarah bristled at the very suggestion. It had her instantly incensed. There was no way in hell. She was married. As much as she would love taking a few shots at this bitch, she knew that even agreeing to bet something like that would hurt Chuck. Paying off would kill him… especially since she wasn't totally sure that she would win. Mary clearly had been in enough fights herself. "You're disgusting," she said dismissively. "You're also deluded if you think that I'm going to willingly betray my husband."

Mary was clearly enjoying her sport. "You seemed pretty willing last night," she said. "Don't stand there and try to play the devoted wife. It's insulting. We both know that it's total bullshit, even before I watched you fucking a total stranger last night. I'll bet that your husband would agree if he ever watched the tape."

Sarah was wrong just a moment ago. Now she was really fucking incensed. "You're the sickest bitch I've ever heard of," she growled. "You would actually cause your own son misery by showing him something like that? What kind of mother… no what kind of person are you? We agreed that last night would be a one time thing. I had my reasons. So fuck you, pervert."

"Trust me," Mary continued her sport. "If you think that you got pounded last night, you haven't seen anything yet. Alexei loves to see how far he can push sweet young things such as yourself. So be prepared for some new experiences. Once you get used to the roughness, it'll be exciting submitting to him. I'll bet that you won't even have to fake the orgasm this time. Most likely it will be something you'll eventually want again. The next time it will be you that seeks him out. Besides don't you want to hear what you get when you win?"

Sarah just scowled wordlessly at her clear taunting so Mary held up an envelope. "The nuclear weapon that Agent Larkin acquired for us," she said. "The location is in this envelope. The second that I lose, I hand the envelope to you. General Beckman gets to return to Washington as a hero with the lost nuclear weapon."

Sarah could feel the warmth of her blood quickly fade away. That was different. The nuclear weapon was always the hole in Orion's plan. She had plainly seen the disappointment in his face over Bryce not knowing where it was. And it was critical that they find it. Once Volkoff lost his fortune, he wouldn't have much to lose. So seeing New York reduced to a pile of smoldering rubble would no longer be such an unacceptable risk. Worse yet, it was worth a ton of money to the right people. It was a lose, lose deal. The weapon would be in the hands of terrorists, and Alexei Volkoff would have the funds he so desperately needed. It would defeat the idea of making him poor and on the run. Worse yet, it might even give him the assets to lay low and plan a counter attack someday… when she and Chuck had a family to worry about. That would never do. If she had an opportunity to take that asset away from him, she knew that she had to do it.

Not only that, but Sarah knew that if she lost, she would be given no choice. Alexei would demand that she immediately pay off before negotiating any further with her. That would be a problem. Her exit strategy out of the compound was to agree to Volkoff's terms and go off to find her Intersect husband and complete their first mission. By the time he realized what had happened, they would be back on The Enforcer tipping back shots of tequila and finding their favorite bench under the stars..

Then there was the act itself. Even though knowing that someone was watching them was a little creepy, especially for Chuck, last night with him was fun… exciting even. She wasn't kidding about the multiple orgasms. She also wasn't kidding about wanting to do the same thing at home sometime soon… literally anytime he wanted. Alexei Volkoff would be totally different. Even the thought was making her a bit nauseous. It was obvious from the look on his face how much he was looking forward to this. He clearly loved being in control of women. He would insist that she prove to him over and over how submissive she was willing to be. He would physically and emotionally use her for who knew how long. Then he would threaten to show the tape to Chuck as just another way to control her.

Far worse would be having to explain all of this to her loving husband. She knew him. He would try for her sake to be supportive, but Sarah knew that he wouldn't be able to keep the hurt from his eyes. She tried to block the sinking feeling that the mere thought was generating. Maybe a bluff would give her time to think. She already knew the answer but she asked anyway. "How can I trust that you'll keep your end?"

Mary shrugged her shoulders. "Because I'm not giving up that much," she said calmly. "There was never a way for us to actually use the weapon. It was always a feint. It's accomplished its objective. Now it's just becoming a liability. And there is no way to tie it to Alexei… no way to prove anything anyway. It seems like the perfect bet. I don't lose much if I lose. And you get an exciting time with no guilt if you lose. And if we win, we both get something. I get to give my guy an exciting present. You get to make your mentor a hero. So, do we have a deal?"

Sarah knew that she had no choice. All of this horrible stuff would simply go away if she could only win the fight. But to win, she needed to temper her rage. It would give her something of an edge, but her main advantage was quickness. To allow her rage to take over and wildly charge in would take away that advantage and give Mary the edge. It was ironic. When she was Agent Walker, her happiest times were in the ring. This was different. This was going to be the fight of her life… and she knew it. The hell with it. Chuck would understand. She would just have to do whatever it took to win. "We have a deal," she growled.

"Let's get this over with."

x-x-x-x-x