Sorry this took so long, but I was busy trying to check my facts. I apologize in advance for any factual errors, and please feel free to correct me. :)

Agent David Rossi sat in conference room 4B drumming his fingers on the table as he carefully watched the clock while he waited for Karen to arrive. While he was waiting, he was thinking of ways to profile her while not making her suspicious. He was aware that she had some FBI training as well as Counter Terrorism training so any usual tactics would be obvious. As the clock neared 2:00 pm he rose and began to pace, occasionally glancing back and forth between the door and the window. He heard the clicking of heels on the marble floor and assumed that it was her, but he was not prepared for what he saw when he turned around. When the clicking stopped, he turned and what he saw took his breath away and he began to feel his entire body tremble. He could not believe his eyes.

"It can't be," he whispered

"I'm sorry," replied Karen, slightly mystified by his statement

"You're..." he started to say but quickly found that he couldn't complete the sentence

"I'm Karen. Karen Hayes-Buchanan, I believe you are expecting me?"

"I...I..."

"Agent Rossi?" she said as she cocked her head to the side and started to move toward him "It is Agent Rossi isn't it?"

"Yes" he finally managed to say as he stared at her in disbelief

"Are you alright? Would you like to sit down?" she asked as she placed her belongings on the table and moved to stand beside him, gently placing her hand on his arm while guiding him to the nearest chair.

Rossi allowed her to assist him to the chair, never taking his eyes off her. She had the same amazing bluish green eyes as Erin, which was damned infuriating when he thought about it. He could never be exactly sure what color the really were because is all depended on what she was wearing at the time. And her hair, blonde like Erin's, even styled the same, pulled back into a twisty, bun thing, and the same worry lines across her forehead, even the tone of her voice, but it couldn't be...Erin was gone.

"Agent Rossi? Can I get you anything?" she asked snapping him out of his thoughts

"No, thank you I'm fine. Please forgive me. I'm not really sure what just happened, and please call me Dave" he replied, desperately trying to regain some sort of composure.

"Alright Dave. I must admit, I've had my fair share of stares, but I have never rendered anyone speechless before" she said with a slight laugh

"Again, my apologies. It's just that you look like someone I used to know, and..."

"No need for explanations." she said with a smile "Shall we get on with the business at hand?"

"Yes of course" he said as he rose and walked to the other end of the table to retrieve the files they were supposed to be discussing. "I don't know about you, but I could think of about half a dozen nicer places to go over these files than this conference room. Would you be opposed to relocating to somewhere a little less formal?"

"I have no objections" she replied as she picked up her things "Lead the way"

After a short ride, Dave and Karen found themselves seated at a corner table of a restaurant called Graffiato.

"I hope you like Italian?" said Dave, slightly blushing. It hadn't occurred to him to ask. Erin always loved it when he surprised her by taking her to a mystery destination for lunch or dinner.

"I love Italian as a matter of fact" she replied with what could be considered an almost smile, "It's been ages since I've been out to a restaurant, even if it is for business"

"Well, we don't have to consider this business...I mean, there is no set time limit on when they want these reviews so we could just sit and talk and if we have to we could meet tomorrow and go over the files" said Dave with a grin

"True. It's not as if they're paying us anyway"

When the waiter came to get their drink order Karen ordered a glass of red wine, which caused Dave some alarm at first before he remembered that this wasn't Erin sitting across from him and to his knowledge, Karen wasn't a recovering alcoholic. Dave quickly followed suit, ordering the same and then began staring at the table as if he was in deep thought.

"She must have been very special," Said Karen quietly as she played with the napkin on the table

"She was" he replied, the sadness evident in his voice

"How long?"

"How long what?"

"How long ago did it happen?" she asked in an empathetic tone

"Four months"

"I'm sorry for your loss"

"Thank you. I understand you lost your husband"

"Yes. He was killed three years ago during the attack by General Juma on the White House"

"I see that neither of us appears to be strangers to pain and loss"

"It would appear not"

"You were working as a National Security Advisor at the time weren't you?"

"No I had resigned by the time all of that happened"

"Do you miss it? Working for the President I mean?"

"Why Agent Rossi, if I didn't know better, I would say that you are profiling me," she said as she leaned back in her chair with a sly grin

"No, just trying to get better acquainted" he replied, secretly hoping that she would believe him

"Relax Dave. I'm just teasing. I know that if you really wanted to profile me, you wouldn't make it obvious" she said with a laugh

"And given you're background both with the Bureau and CTU, You would pick up on it in an instant" he replied with a smile

"I see you've read my file"

"I thought it would be a good idea to know who I was working with. Sometimes they send you off to work with someone who has absolutely no idea what you're talking about and a lot of time is wasted"

"And what did my file reveal?"

"That we can afford to spend a lot more time just talking rather than working"

Dave and Karen spent the next few hours talking about anything and everything from cases they had worked on in the "old" days to the current state of the country and everything in between. Karen didn't say much about her late husband Bill other than he worked for the CTU and that was where they met, while Dave was rather guarded about what he revealed about Erin, as she was his Section Chief at the time of her death. Neither of them had any idea how late it had gotten until Karen glanced down at her watch.

"Is that really the time?" she said sounding a bit surprised

Dave glanced down at his watch and noticed that it was nearly 9:30PM

"I had no idea it had gotten to be so late" he replied as he motioned to the waiter to bring the bill

"I guess we will be stretching this out until tomorrow" she said with a laugh as she gathered up her things

"Look, instead of me driving you back to Headquarters why don't I just take you home" he replied as they made their way out of the restaurant

"That would be nice except for one thing...my car"

"No problem. I can pick you in the morning and we can ride in together, discuss the files and then you can retrieve your car"

"That's really very nice of you, but you don't have to go to all that trouble..."

"It's no trouble, really" he replied as he opened the car door for her

"Alright, I'll make you a deal. You can take me home if you promise to let me cook lunch for you tomorrow, and then after we eat we can go over the files and then I'll ride back with you to get my car"

"It's a deal," he said with a grin as he shut the door

TO E CONTINUED...