A/N - I hope you're all still reading and don't hate me lol

Baghdad - Eight months later

The blue sky took on an ominous, almost threatening darkness as the wind began to build. Swirling and dancing across the ground, ephemeral flurries collecting grains of sand as they lifted higher and higher, the air becoming thick and oppressive as the sand forged across the desert surface, assaulting everything in its path. Storms like these were a regular occurrence and had become just another thing to adapt to.

Elizabeth had been to Iraq before, albeit under different circumstances and job title but truly believed she would just hit the ground running like she had with everything else in her life. However, the role of station chief had been a real baptism of fire and she was only just starting to get on an even footing. The job itself wasn't the problem. She had made real headway in her objective to change the way interrogations took place. To steer away from brutality and find a more humane approach. She was finally in a position to affect the kind of change that had been a mere pipe dream while sat behind a desk at Langley. The biggest issue she had been facing since stepping off the plane was one she had absolutely no control over — She was a woman.

Times had definitely changed for the better, but the military was still a predominantly male domain and having a female CIA analyst come in and take charge had certainly ruffled a few feathers, It seemed like a constant battle to have to prove herself more, stamp her authority harder and achieve results quicker than her male counterparts. It was frustrating and exhausting — But sadly, a necessity.

Elizabeth hadn't quite realised how lonely she would feel. She took the job because she wanted it. Because she needed to push herself in order to grow as a person and she didn't regret her decision. But, the longer she was away, the more she missed the familiarity of Langley, her apartment, her friends and dare she say it — Henry.

She had always been extremely proficient in locking things away, deep in the chasms of her mind where she didn't need to think about them or deal with them. It was her coping mechanism. Her way of moving forwards without being shackled by the hurt of her past. It's why she had never been to visit her parents grave. It wasn't because she didn't care or didn't want to remember them. It was because she knew damn well If she unlocked that particular rumination, there would be no controlling it. It would consume her and rip her apart and it had taken all she had to lock it away in the first place.

The issue she was having with Henry was that her memories of him wouldn't stay locked away. In fact, they were constantly escaping into the very forefront of her psyche and she had absolutely no dominance over it. It had been eight months and yet she could still feel his fingertips on her skin, his breath on her face and the words 'I Love You' ringing in her ears. She had walked out of his apartment and left him, left them behind, yet somehow it felt as if that thread had not been severed. There was an incessant niggle deep inside her that refused to abate and it was telling her that their story wasn't over.

Elizabeth ducked inside and dragged her fingers through her tresses, trying to dislodge the sand. Her hair had been halfway down her back when she'd first arrived, but after eight months in the middle of nowhere without the option of popping to a salon in her lunch break, it was now unruly and ridiculously long. It was usually tied back and out of her way, but of course she'd left it down when a sandstorm hit.

Her lodgings weren't the most extravagant or comfortable she'd ever experienced, but it was all part of the territory and she figured it would do her good to live the simple life for a while. Get back to basics in more ways than one. Discover what she really needed from her life without the materialistic trappings of the world she had temporarily left behind.

Elizabeth's day had been a long and challenging one, only exacerbated by the storm and she was grateful for the tiny piece of solitude she could call her own. Privacy was in short supply and it could seem almost claustrophobic at times, yet her little haven was enough to keep her sane. Well — Almost.

She fell onto her bed, her body feeling heavy and skin scratchy from the constant presence of sand. She knew she should at least take her boots off if nothing else but it was too much effort. She just wanted to lay still and let her mind shut down. And with Henry's old Guns n Roses t-shirt clutched to her chest, she let her eyes grow heavy and sleep claim her.

It seemed like only seconds had passed before she startled awake

"Ma'am — Excuse me ma'am — I'm sorry to disturb you.."

"What? I'm up, I'm up — What is it?"

The young marine hovered, unsure where to place his gaze. This was her personal space and he was uncomfortable even being in the vicinity. "We have a situation ma'am. The storm has —"

"Let me guess. Knocked out all of our satellites?"

"Yes ma'am."

Elizabeth pushed herself up and tied her hair back into a high ponytail "Just another day at the office."

The night seemed to last an eternity and by the time the storm subsided and the sunrise appeared over the horizon, filling the sky with the most beautiful shades of orange and pink, Elizabeth had been awake for almost 36 hours. She was running on empty, hadn't showered for 2 days and her stomach was starting to revolt against the lack of food.

"Are we back on line and running smoothly now?" Elizabeth rubbed her temples in a vain attempt to soothe the headache starting to build.

"Yes ma'am. There was no permanent damage and all systems are back up."

"Good! I'm going to get some coffee and freshen up." She started walking off but then turned back "Oh — And I want an update on Hassan Amari within the hour. There's been too many dead ends and we are wasting time."

Elizabeth could feel the tension like a rope tugging from her neck all the way down through her body. She needed a shower, she needed to sleep for hours and oh god how she wished she was sitting in the cafe having a decent cup of coffee and one of Andrew's apple muffins. That thought alone made her stomach grumble loudly.

She leaned over the sink and splashed some cold water on her face. She had another day to get through before she could finally get her head down and staying awake and alert was going to be a real challenge. But she couldn't afford to let herself slip. She had to push through the fatigue and stay focussed.

Her reflection in the mirror was one she didn't overly recognise. Her hair was unwashed and caked in sand, she couldn't even remember the last time she had properly moisturized and who knew she'd miss her mascara this much. And as uncomfortable as they were — what she wouldn't give to swap the desert boots for her heels just for a day. It was ironic that her job was being made harder because she was a woman, yet she'd never felt so unfeminine in her whole life.

Elizabeth's heavy feet dragged her towards the promise of coffee and she almost made it. But she wasn't quite close enough.

"Ma'am — There's a call from director Dalton." The same young marine from the night before was there again. He reminded her of the puppy her parents had brought home when she was maybe 4 or 5 years old. He was sweet and pretty cute to look at but was as nervous as hell and was probably close to peeing on the floor.

"Is there nobody else he can speak to? Last time I looked I was not the only one here." Her tone was far more terse than she'd meant. Maybe he would pee himself after all.

"He specifically asked for you ma'am — Sorry ma'am."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes at him and huffed "Then I supposed I'd better go and speak to him."

She followed the young man for a while and then posed a question "Do you like puppies —" She glanced at his name badge — "Private Lawrence?"

He looked utterly confused "I'm sorry ma'am — I don't follow?"

She let out a deep, throaty laugh, amusing herself no end "Never mind."

Their childhood puppy had been called sprout which actually seemed to fit quite well. Private Sprout. Elizabeth couldn't help but chuckle to herself. But she knew it would now be stuck in her head.

The small screen was flickering and the interference was terrible but Elizabeth could just about see and hear Conrad.

"Bess, are you any closer to tracking down Hassan Amari? We need that son of a bitch found and brought in."

"We have several leads sir — He's too egotistical to stay underground for long. It's only a matter of time before he slips up." Why did she feel as though she were being chastised?

"You need to be the one who interrogates him Bess. You're the best we've got and we need answers."

"Yes sir. I'll get what we need."

The audio was starting to break up badly and the waves of static across the screen scrambled the picture.

"Bess — I've sen —someo — advis—"

"I can't hear you sir —"

The screen went dead and Elizabeth couldn't even start to try and piece together what he had been trying to say.

"Damn it." She pushed herself back from the desk "Can we please get our comms back up ASAP." The louder she got, the more husky her voice sounded "I need Amari brought in — Now! Do I need to go out there and get the bastard myself?"

"That wouldn't be permitted ma'am." Corporal Rodriguez was far more confident than sprout. He always seemed to be smirking, even when he wasn't and the air of cockiness rubbed Elizabeth up the wrong way.

"Then do your job so that I can do mine." He did not want to piss her off right now.

"We'll do our best ma'am."

There was that smirk again. Nope, she definitely wasn't fond of him at all.

Another long day was spent pouring over maps, going through every last morsel of information they had, reading between the lines to find even the tiniest clue as to where Amari was. They had been tracking him for months and he always seemed to be one step ahead. It was frustrating and even though Elizabeth knew that nobody else could do her job better, she felt as if she were letting Conrad down. Letting her parents down. She couldn't afford to fail — Not after all she'd sacrificed so much to be there.

Throwing her glasses onto the desk, Elizabeth rubbed the back of her neck and sighed. She was racking her brains trying to come up with some way to catch this guy. There must be something she hadn't thought of. Some asset that they hadn't tapped. Some way of being a step ahead for once. She leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes. Sometimes she needed to see past the obvious and focus on what was in the distance. She tried to clear her mind, calm her anxiety so the hidden might come into focus.

Visions of the picnic with Henry jumped in. The sun on her face, the sound of the trees rustling in the breeze. The deep fruity smell of the wine and Henry's voice. That beautifully calming, incredibly sexy voice that soothed her and set her on fire all at once. It had been such a gorgeous day and when she'd opened up about her relationship with simon, it had allowed her to start looking forwards rather than back all the time.

And then it hit her like a lightning bolt. A momentary clearance of thought.

"Think forwards not backwards." She jumped out of her chair and paced across the room to the white board, different maps pinned to it, red lines scrawled across depicting where Amari had targeted.

"We're looking in the wrong place."

"Excuse me ma'am?" Rodriguez seemed almost aggravated by her outburst.

"Look —" Her palm smacked the board "He's leaving us clues but we've been too busy looking where he's already been. We need to look at where he hasn't been."

"With all due respect ma'am — Amari has given nothing away. We haven't missed a thing." Rodriguez wasn't overly keen on Elizabeth either. He saw her as just another desk rat with ideas above her station. She didn't belong there, simple as that.

"You're wrong Corporal." She held up her hand in front of his face "How many fingers am I holding up?"

Rodriguez looked and answered with a dismissive "Three."

"Look again — But don't focus on the obvious."

"You're holding up three fingers. That's all I see and I'm not sure what this has to do with —"

"LOOK AGAIN." Her sharp tone made his head snap back to where she was still holding her hand up. "Look past plain sight."

He looked again and tilted his head "Six — I see six."

"You've got it." She raised her brows at him and slapped him on the arm, a grin appearing across her face "We have to focus on what we can't see in plain sight."

She looked at the board again "Amari is an egotist. He wants maximum attention for minimum effort." She stared at the map for what seemed like hours and then grabbed a pen and circled a small area "This is where we need to focus our attention."

"I really don't think —"

"Well, it's a good job I'm here then —" She moved slightly closer to him and gave him the stoniest look she could muster "Isn't it Corporal."

He held her stare for as long as he could but eventually had to look away "We'll get right on it — Ma'am."

Elizabeth felt a hint of relief wash over her. She couldn't afford to be too complacent, but it was a breakthrough. A different approach and she just hoped to god it paid off. It also felt good to force her authority a little.

At this point, she had been awake for longer than she could remember. She almost felt giddy where she was so tired and all she wanted to do was stand under a shower, wash the stress of the past few days off her skin and crawl into her bed.

Her boot clad feet scuffed the floor as she walked. Her body felt heavy but the thoughts in her head weren't so oppressive. If she were lucky, she may even get a few hours of undisturbed sleep. She grabbed herself a towel and her toiletries and was just heading for the shower block when it happened again.

Private Lawrence scurried after her, coming to a stop directly in her path "I'm so sorry to disturb you ma'am but —"

"Do you have some kind of alarm that goes off every time I try to get a bit of time for myself Private?"

"No ma'am — It's just —"

"I am tired. I haven't had a shower for an unhealthy amount of time and my stomach feels like it's been placed on hunger strike. Are we under attack?"

"No ma'am but —"

"In that case, I am going to keep walking in the direction of the shower and I do not want you to disturb me again until I am clean, fed and am not hanging out of my arse. Do we have an understanding?"

She awaited his response and was about to take a step forward when she heard a voice behind her that made her question her own sanity.

"Are you Elizabeth Adams? Conrad Dalton has instructed me to liaise with you. I'm your ethics advisor —"

Elizabeth froze. She knew that voice. She knew the person it belonged to. What she didn't know is why he was standing behind her right now. She took a couple of steadying breaths, regained her composure and turned to face him.

"I'm Elizabeth Adams — and you are?"