CHARMING'S AUTHORS NOTE #1: Welcome back! The meeting is finally here! Yes, the moment you've all been waiting for, the team up of the century! More seriously, I know many of you have been impatiently waiting for this moment, but I had to tell the story my way, which meant waiting. That's done now though, the meeting is here for all of you to enjoy.

CHARMING'S AUTHORS NOTE #2: I have to give a massive shoutout to my friend Nev AKA nevr. Without Nev, I never would have continued this story, so thank you Nev, couldn't have done this without you.

Desire

A Story by

CharmingCharles2896

Chapter Inspired by the Song

Dawn of Our Age by Malbec

Chapter Eighteen

Survivors

Maison23, Room 833

Burbank, California

Friday, May 15th, 2009

6:15 AM PDT

The sound of the alarm clock the hotel provided in every room, made Nora Rogers groan internally. She'd gotten far too little sleep for her liking, but she still felt better than she had the night before. Nora Rogers sat up in bed and took in her surroundings. She had to smile a small smile; she was in Burbank. Today was a big day, today she would meet her new teammates, today was the day when things would start being different for her.

Nora rose from bed, got showered and brushed her teeth. She went to her suitcase and pulled out her trusty, charcoal grey pencil skirt suit. She selected a white button front shirt to go along with it and her pair of Jimmy Choo's to wear. With her makeup finished, she inspected herself in the mirror. She wanted to look professional when she met this team. The reputation of this team was on another level and the last thing she wanted was to show up and look like a junior agent. With her outfit all sorted out, Nora opened up her pistol case and retrieved her FN Five-seveN. The pistol itself was often referred to as the cop killer due to its high muzzle velocity and ability to penetrate soft body armor. The 5.7 x 28mm ammunition that the pistol used was definitely different from what she knew her teammates likely used, but she'd taken a liking to it on an assignment and had been using it, when possible, for several years now.

At seven o'clock sharp, Nora collected the things that she'd need for the day and left her hotel room. She was a short taxi ride from the secret base and she had plenty of time to get there before the meeting was scheduled to start at seven thirty. When Nora got down to the lobby, she went to the desk and had them call her a cab, the woman at the desk, Sharon was what her name tag said, was very polite. When the taxi arrived, Nora quickly informed her driver of her destination and sat back for the short, ten-minute drive. Nora had never been to Los Angelis before and while technically she was in Burbank at the moment, she was going to count it. The weather was beautiful and sunny, traffic was pretty brutal, but she'd heard that was a problem in this town just from the stories you hear in everyday life.

A part of Nora Rogers was nervous about what her new teammates expected of her; she knew she had a reputation. Nora knew she was known for what she could do with her body, she just hoped that wasn't what they brought her here for. Until she found out for certain, she was going to play her cards close to the chest. She'd obviously heard great things about them all, and her new boss General Beckman had nothing but nice things to say about the team, but Nora was still skeptical.

"So, why does a lady like you want to head to the Orange Orange anyway? That place is a dump and has been closed for several days now," the taxi driver asked as he looked at her in his rear-view mirror. Nora perked up and looked at the older Korean man. His wrinkled face showed his age, but the youthful vitality in his eyes told her that he was still a young soul at heart.

"I'm meeting with some people," she said absently as she looked back towards the window. The taxi driver nodded as he turned left onto Burbank Boulevard.

"You must be new in town," he said as her destination came into view about a quarter mile ahead on the right.

"You could say that," she replied as the sign for the McAlister Plaza came into view. She could see the logos for Large Mart, Buy More, Underpants Etc., and Centennial Security below the massive McAlister Plaza sign. The taxi pulled into the plaza and made for the Orange Orange. When Nora saw it, she saw a navy-blue Ford Crown Victoria and that same Nerd Herd car that she'd seen in the parking lot of her hotel the night before. Maybe one of her teammates lived in that hotel too? As the taxi came to a stop in front of the Orange Orange, Nora quickly paid the driver and got out, waiting for the ugly yellow car to disappear before she walked into the closed frozen yogurt establishment.

The interior was dark and lifeless, but the bright blue and orange color pallet was plain to see, even in the lower light. The place looked like something the CIA would come up with; a lifeless corporate front, designed to inspire no imagination and leave no lasting memory. As she looked at the menu up on the wall, she had a suspicion that every single flavor likely tasted like toxic waste, you don't want repeat customers in a CIA front, after all.

Per the instructions she'd been given, the base was hidden behind the far wall of the freezer, so Nora locked the front door of the shop and then made her way behind the counter and found the freezer in the back. After entering the frigid freezer, she walked to the back and saw the sign on the wall that said Caution Cold, Nora pushed the sign in and watched a palm scanner and a keypad appear. She knew she likely wasn't in their systems yet, so her palm print likely wasn't in their systems. Instead, she glanced at the piece of paper that Leon had given her the night before that had the code on it. After enter the twelve-digit code, the door opened and a now shivering Nora walked into the base, the door closing behind her quickly with an audible whoosh. As soon as Nora saw the base, she was blown away.

Nora Rogers had been to a lot of cool and exotic locations during her career, but she'd never been inside an actual James Bond style spy lair! This place was so cool, and must have cost billions to create. There was no way this was constructed for the team, construction on something like this would take too long and be too obvious, considering you'd have to dig up half the plaza. No, this place must have been a preexisting structure built under the plaza long before the plaza was created. The government owned it, and when this team came into being, they spent a large sum of money, likely north of a billion dollars, to renovate it into the elaborate spy base that it was now. Nora could hear the laughing and conversing of three people. When Nora looked down and to the left, she saw three people sitting at a large conference table. There was a large man in a green polyester polo, who looked about old enough to be her father, though it didn't show from his physique and lack of grey hair. The man in the green polo was sitting at the head of the table, facing a large HD TV acting as a monitor. Other than the older gentleman, there was a gorgeous blonde woman in white capris and a black top that had little butterflies down the spine like vertebra in the human spine; it was a very cute top. The blonde was holding hands with a very tall and lanky looking man with long curly brown hair. The lanky man was wearing a white, short sleeved button-down shirt, a grey polyester tie, and black pants, he obviously worked at the Buy More across the parking lot with the older man. The blonde and the lanky man were obviously a couple, and the both of them were sitting at the table cattycornered to the older man with their backs to her. The three of them were obviously her new teammates and as she watched them for a brief moment, she could see the chemistry, it was rather intimidating. This group had been around, seen and accomplished a lot as a team, that was a tough situation to come into as the new guy, so to speak. Nora took a step forward onto the metal steps, her heels making a taping sound as she walked. The sound grabbed the three people's attention as she watched them all look over in her direction. As she laid eyes on the faces of the blonde and her lanky male companion, she instantly recognized them as the couple she yelled at the night before for having loud sex at two in the morning… this was going to be so awkward.

"Hey, you made it! Hope you found the place easily?" The lanky man said with a big smile as he stood up and closed the distance with her. As she made it to the bottom of the stairs, the lanky man was there offering her his hand to shake, she shook it, still in shock from his intensely open and kind demeanor.

"She's staying in the same hotel as you, Numb Nuts, of course she found the place easily," the older man said as he too stood up and walked over.

"Never mind him, it's secretly a term of endearment," the lanky man said with a cheeky smile. Part of Nora wanted to laugh at that, but she didn't. "I'm Chuck Bartowski, the team's Analyst and the Intersect," Chuck said as the blonde walked up next to him and extended her hand. Nora nodded in recognition to Chuck and shook the blonde's hand.

"Sarah Bartowski, CIA," Sarah said with a small, but welcoming smile. Nora nodded, now understanding the dynamic a bit more, the two of them were married, hence the hand holding.

"Nice to meet the both of you. I was briefed on the Intersect, as an engineer, I admit to being curious about it, but they wouldn't tell me much about it."

"Not surprising, anything we know about it, the three of us have learned on our own," Chuck said to Nora honestly who blushed as she suddenly remembered the previous night. Chuck and Sarah both noticed and neither of them had a clue what made the new girl blush.

"Something wrong?" Nora looked back at the beautiful blonde she now knew as Sarah Bartowski.

"No, just glad that I'm wearing more than my slippers and my robe this time, I'm still so embarrassed by that." Chuck and Sarah both breathed a laugh and nodded.

"You're good, if anyone should feel embarrassed it's us," Sarah said as Chuck wrapped his right arm around his wife and pulled her close.

"We promise to be quieter in the future," he said before he kissed her on the head, getting a hum from her. Sarah gave Chuck a confused look, which he didn't know the source of. "What?"

"You're writing checks my self-control can't cash," Sarah whispered to him. Chuck blushed as red as a ripe tomato and Nora couldn't help the amused blush that crept onto her face, these two were kind of fun to be around, and it was obvious that Sarah enjoyed teasing her husband. Chuck noticed a presence behind him, so he stepped aside to make way for the tall, burly man in the green polo that had Buy More embroidered front.

"John Casey, NSA." Nora shook his hand, instantly noticing his firm handshake.

"Hello, John," Nora said politely. Casey had to stop himself from recoiling, he hated being called John. For some reason though, it didn't sound completely horrible coming from the stunning blonde that was Agent Nora Rogers. Pushing that thought down, he spoke once again with his typical grumble.

"I hope you're as good as your file says you are." In an instant a dagger was pushed into her heart. Was that what she was here for? Her file likely read like the filmography of a Pornstar, Slutty Co-Eds 12: Oral Initiation. Nora had to use all of her training to put on a front to mask how much that hurt. In the end, she fell into that tried-and-true persona that had kept her alive for so long. With a self-assured smile, Listerine Girl gave John a confident smile.

"Don't worry, John, I'm better." Nora left the NSA Agent standing there. "So, they wouldn't tell me shit about you guys, only what I'd be doing here. How did you three happen?" Sarah had been around; she knew when someone put their mask up and that had definitely just happened to Agent Rogers. Casey's comment had hurt her feelings and now she was putting on a front, likely the façade that she always used when she wanted to hide who she really was.

"Yes, right, uh…" Chuck began, having seen the change in Agent Rogers and now trying to reconcile the seemingly diametrically opposed personalities he was seeing. "Back in September of two-thousand and seven, I was sent an email containing the Intersect by an old college roommate of mine who unbeknownst to me was a CIA Agent. I opened the email, answered a riddle and the Intersect was downloaded into my brain. After that, Graham sent Sarah here to Burbank to find the Intersect; eventually she asked me out on a date as a cover for finding out what I knew. On that date, the NSA's finest," Chuck said as he pointed at Casey. "The NSA's finest came after us and eventually the three of us stopped a bomb from killing a whole bunch of people at a hotel. That night, the two of them convinced their bosses that I was useful and they turned us into the team you see today. Back then I was an asset and they were my handlers." Nora nodded as Chuck finished, but she still had questions.

"How did you go from an asset/handler relationship to getting married? I have to assume Beckman and Graham, now Hawthorne, wouldn't want a handler marrying her asset?" Sarah nodded at Nora's question and stepped forward to answer that one.

"Six and a half weeks ago, Beckman sent in a 49B," Nora closed her eyes knowing exactly where this was going.

"Alex Forrest, right?" Nora added already knowing the answer. Chuck nodded, stunned that this new girl would even know about Agent Forrest.

"Yes, how do you know about her?"

"If you've read my file, you know I had an asset once," her three teammates nodded, thus confirming to her exactly how much they already knew about her, for better or worse. "The reason I don't anymore, is because that dumb bitch said I was too emotionally invested to carry out my duties." Nora stopped to collect herself, ultimately shaking her head in disgust at herself and the CIA. "I was thrown off of that assignment and any credibility I had with Graham after failing my red test evaporated. You obviously know what came after that. Last I was able to find out, my asset was killed by a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the heart only one month later." Sarah could see the hint of emotion in Nora's eyes, this girl did care. "Just couldn't take it anymore, I guess." As Nora trailed off, too emotional to say anymore and unwilling to show them anymore of who she really was, she heard Sarah continue speaking.

"I understand what you're feeling, Chuck barely lasted six weeks with Agent Forrest as his new handler. Eventually Casey discovered that she'd lied about my 49B and had been physically and psychologically abusing him. After reporting this to Beckman, Forrest was removed from the team and I was brought back." Chuck stepped forward and took over.

"We drove to Las Vegas and eloped the night we saw each other again and two days later discovered that she was pregnant with our child as well." When Chuck mentioned that last part Nora's eyebrows rose in surprise, Chuck merely nodded with a smile. "With Sarah's pregnancy, it was decided that she would step away from field work and I would assume an analyst's role, but mainly from here in Castle. I'll likely still head out into the field, but I don't expect it to happen often, so you and Casey will be partnered up a lot." Nora got a small smile on her face, the relief she felt inside was immense. She wasn't here because of her work as Listerine Girl. No, she was here because they liked everything else they saw from her body of work.

Sarah saw the change in this new girl, apparently the source of her earlier distress had been concerns over exactly why she was on this team. With that sorted out thanks to a little well-timed explanation, Nora's mood seemed to have improved a fair amount.

"Congratulations, it's nice to see things work out for once, right?" Nora said, obviously able to empathize with her new teammates. Sarah smiled a happy smile and leaned into Chuck's embrace as he pulled her in close.

"We're two of the lucky ones, that's for sure," Sarah said with a contented sigh. Nora had to smile a small smile, these two were obviously still in that early phase of marriage. Casey saw confusion overtake Agent Rogers' face; he suspected another question about the team was coming.

"Beckman and Hawthorne wouldn't exactly explain the security situation here. From the sound of things, Chuck is an untrained former asset with no real means to defend himself. If that's the case, then was this just a protection detail that did fieldwork?"

"Yes, the both of us act as his security detail. Bartowski is a Nerd Herder at the Buy More and I work as part of the sales team," Casey said simply.

"I did external security and surveillance from the Double O upstairs, but with my pregnancy, I'm stepping away from that." Nora nodded at Sarah's additional information. "Next week I'm starting as the new Assistant Manager of the Buy More, I'll provide additional surveillance inside the store and at least until I'm too far along, I'll provide backup support as well," Sarah said to Nora who nodded.

"Is that why I'm going to be working in the yogurt shop?" Nora asked her new teammates who all nodded. Chuck spoke up next with a smile on his face.

"Yep, you're our new guard dog, which compared to most work that agents do has got to be the cushiest job ever." Nora snorted at the comparison to a guard dog and shook her head.

"Chains and dog collars aren't really my thing, too kinky for my tastes," Nora deadpanned, which got a laugh from Casey and a deep red blush from Chuck. "More seriously, after working nonstop for the last seven months, the mundane normalcy of the Orange Orange sounds down right heavenly." Sarah's eyes grew big as she heard Nora's words.

"Seven months without any time off?" Sarah asked with concern in her voice; Nora simply looked at her in confusion.

"We're supposed to get time off between assignments?" The innocence in Nora's voice betrayed exactly how young she really was. Sarah merely nodded with a genuinely concerned expression.

"Yes, you're supposed to get at least a week off between assignments, more if your assignment was long-term. Nobody ever told you that you're entitled to time off?" When Nora heard the tender concern in Sarah's voice, she was touched by it and a tad embarrassed by her clear lack of knowledge. Nora looked down at her hands and spoke in a small, vulnerable voice.

"Nobody ever wanted to work with me, I don't exactly talk to other agents much. Decker was so controlling and my uh… reputation basically made me into metaphorical plutonium. Nobody would touch me with a ten-foot pole or they risked hurting their own careers and reputations. By working with me they were working with Graham's personal…" Nora trailed off as she saw the blank look on Chuck's face and the fluttering of his eyes. "What's happening to him?" She asked loudly as she stepped closer to him. When Chuck's eyes returned to normal Nora was by his side in an instant, concern all over her face.

"Are you okay? It looked like you just had a seizure." Chuck merely nodded that he was okay and watched the calm return to Nora's features.

"Your old boss was not a good person…" Chuck said mutedly, which grabbed Nora's attention.

"What did you say?" Nora asked as caution appeared on her face.

"Chuck just accessed the Intersect, we call it having a flash. When you mentioned Decker's name, Chuck flashed and saw something in the Intersect," Sarah explained. Nora's engineering brain instantly took over. When her superiors had explained the idea of subliminal image retention in very basic terms, she hadn't quite grasped the implication of it, but seeing it now in action…

"That's incredible! What did the Intersect tell you?" Nora asked excitedly, an inquisitive smile appearing on her face.

"Accusations of sexual harassment from nearly a dozen secretaries and aides over the course of his career. Accusations of accepting bribes from foreign entities. He's been accused of everything from unsanctioned hits to tampering with evidence, to ordering agents to engage in unlawful sexual conduct, and this is just everything from two-thousand and eight and earlier. The worst was the alleged sexual assault of a six-year-old boy when he was station chief in Zagreb, that one seemingly went away for no apparent reason." Casey growled quietly, he hated CIA suits like Decker who abused their power to do whatever they wanted, especially when it involved children.

"I worked with him a couple times in my earlier years," Sarah said with palpable disdain in her tone. "That man is a disgusting pig. I swear if he tried to convince me to have sex with him one time, he did it a hundred times. Eventually I broke his damn hand when he reached up my skirt during a mission briefing. He complained to Graham, but I guess Graham liked me more than Decker, because he sided with me." The proud smirk on Sarah's face brought a small shred of joy to Nora.

"Graham never extended me that courtesy." The smile fell from Sarah's face. "I'm glad I never met Decker in person, though; I only ever interacted with him via video conference or phone call."

"Lucky," Sarah grumbled under her breath. She could already tell that she would have no trouble getting along with Nora Rogers.

"So, is it always that fast?" Nora asked as she turned to Chuck once again, he merely shrugged.

"I don't really know, I don't exactly perceive time in the middle of a flash," Chuck said before he looked over to Sarah and Casey, hoping they'd answer Nora's question.

"His flashes are usually pretty quick, maybe one or two seconds," Nora nodded as Sarah spoke. "We've never really kept track of that kind of thing."

"Fascinating, does it hurt?"

Chuck spoke up, this one being easy to answer. "Yes, but only if I flash several times in a short period of time." Nora nodded, pondering what she'd just learned; it was a moment before something dawned on her and she turned to Sarah.

"This was originally a protection detail?" Sarah silently nodded. "Knowing that, I'm assuming that because of the… tentative standing an asset holds on a team, it was decided to elevate Chuck to analyst to give him actual standing and a paycheck." Sarah and Casey nodded again.

"With Chuck having no combat training, he's in a lot of danger when in the field."

"I don't know about a lot of danger," Chuck grumbled quietly. Sarah gave Chuck a flat, knowing look which he shrank from. "Okay, fine, I'm a sitting duck out there, happy?" he said with a hint of annoyance as he locked eyes with his wife.

"Anyway, if he flashes in the field, does he need to be looked after once the flash concludes?" Nora's three teammates gave her matching confused expressions, so she sighed and elaborated. "His reaction time, is it affected by the flash, after the flash ends? Is he in danger of being caught in a cross fire if he flashes suddenly and freezes up?" Chuck and Sarah shared a look, neither having ever thought about that. Casey rubbed the back of his head with his hand as he thought about that. This Agent Rogers was smart and was asking questions they should have asked months ago.

"We haven't thought about it," Casey said to the modelesque agent standing before him.

"As an engineer, it might be prudent to run some small scales tests here in your base to check if Chuck is affected. How can we best utilize the Intersect in his head, if we don't understand how it affects him?" Casey and Sarah were silent, Nora's line of questioning having brought up some issues neither of them had ever contemplated.

"Man, you are going to get along so well with Ellie," Chuck breathed in shock. Nora gave him a confused look, which only made the humor in Sarah rise to the surface faster. Sarah cracked up at the randomness of Chuck's words. Nora turned to Sarah, confusion written all over her face. When Sarah saw the confusion on Nora's face, she calmed and elaborated.

"Ellie is Chuck's older sister, she's a neurologist. I had to read her in fully in order to repair my destroyed relationship with her after the 49B. We plan to bring her in on the team as a neurologist to help with Chuck's Intersect. Once we get some brain scans of Chuck's brain flashing and at rest, we'll have her around to help us if Chuck has a problem. You'll want to talk to her at that time." Nora nodded, still processing all of the information that her brain had, had dumped into it in the last five minutes.

"Good thinking; anyone else I need to know about?" Sarah went to the table and grabbed the turquoise, inch thick binder, like the ones often seen in use in every middle and high school in America. Sarah held up the binder, which had a sheet of printer paper that read Magical Binder of Everybody Ever! in big black letters tucked under the plastic cover on the front of it.

"Magical binder of everybody ever?" Nora asked with amusement in her tone.

"The name was my idea," Chuck said with a hint of embarrassment. Nora chuckled, both at Chuck and at the binder.

"This is everybody that you need to know about in the Moron's sphere," Casey began only to be cut off by Nora.

"Why'd you call him that?"

"It's just our thing, I think it's a term of endearment at this point," Chuck said with a shrug. Nora found herself laughing a lot when Chuck spoke. In all her years since the Farm, she'd never met someone like Chuck. He was funny, charming, disarmingly goofy, and just generally a nice guy.

"The binder is a series of short bios of everyone you'll need to know about. Chuck's sister, her boyfriend, Morgan, everyone at the Buy More, parents, everyone to know about," Sarah said as she tossed the binder back onto the table with a louder slam that she'd thought it would make… oops.

The sound of the call beginning rang through the monitor on the wall as a countdown appeared on screen. The four members of Team Intersect quickly moved to the table and waited for the video call to begin. Nora turned to Chuck and spoke quietly.

"Where is the webcam?" he gave her a confused look. "Video calls require a camera for Beckman to see us, where is the camera?" Recognition appeared on Chuck's face instantly and he leaned over as Beckman's face appeared on screen.

"I think the camera is somehow incorporated into the monitor, but the CIA won't let me take one apart to check," Chuck shrugged.

"Man, you guys have all the cool toys in this place," Nora whispered.

"Agent Rogers, is there something you'd like to add?" came the voice of General Beckman, snapping Nora back into the moment. In a flash the tried-and-true persona fell over her like clockwork as she spoke.

"No, Ma'am; my apologies Director… I mean, General." Nora silently cursed her stupid brain after she finished speaking. She'd looked like a fucking amateur just now, which was not the best first impression to make with the team.

Beckman eyed Nora for a moment, having already seen that the new team member was significantly more relaxed than she'd been the day before when the General had briefed her. The way Beckman saw it, this was good news, the more Nora integrated into the dynamic of the team, the more effective the team would be once they went back out into the field. "Right, as I was saying, I want Agent Bartowski to go over that dossier with you, Agent Rogers, so that you can get caught up and have a better feel of things going forward."

"Thank you, Ma'am, I would appreciate that greatly."

"Agent Bartowski," Beckman began.

"Yes, Ma'am?" Sarah replied, standing up a bit straighter.

"Because you don't have to start at the Buy More until Monday, why don't you go over that dossier now, while your husband and Major Casey go to work. That should be plenty of time to get Agent Rogers caught up before tonight." Sarah simply nodded, silently. "If there's nothing else?" Beckman said before quickly ending the call. Once the screen went black, Casey and Chuck stood from the table. Chuck leaned over towards his wife and captured her lips in a quick kiss.

"Our lunch break is at noon, so I was thinking of calling and ordering carryout from China Temple, like twenty minutes before our lunch break. I figure Casey and I can walk over and grab it as soon as we go on break."

Sarah smiled at Chuck, liking his thinking. "Good idea, see you later." Chuck winked at her and turned to leave. As Casey and Chuck climbed the stairs, Sarah hollered after him.

"Love you."

"Love you too!" The door closed behind Chuck with a loud swoosh and Sarah and Nora were suddenly left alone. The two blondes eyed each other for a moment, both sizing up the other. Nora was this other woman's replacement, that was obvious.

"I'm just going to say this right now," Nora began tersely, which grabbed Sarah's attention. "You've read my file, so you obviously know what I've been doing the last three years." Sarah nodded. "If you three brought me here to be that person, then get rid of that thought right now. Check that thinking at the door, because I refuse to give myself away to anyone else unless it's what I want." Nora looked away to stop the emotion from showing in her eyes. Sarah could see the anger and shame in Nora's eyes, the hurt from what she'd done before coming to Burbank still very raw. Sarah closed the distance between the two of them and pulled Nora into a hug. Nora tensed up, unaccustomed to other agents acting this way.

Sarah leaned in close to Nora's ear and whispered tenderly, "I know that Graham hurt you, I know about your reputation. I know what you're afraid of and I promise you that you will never have to be that person again." Sarah pulled back and held onto Nora's upper arms, looking her right in the eyes. "We're different here, I promise. Chuck would never let that happen to you." Nora gave Sarah a confused look.

"Chuck is just an analyst, how much pull can he have?" Sarah merely smiled a small smile.

"He may be an analyst, but he has a way of changing you, making you into a better person. Casey and I used to be cold blooded killers, the worst of the worst, then we met Chuck. From the first day I talked to Chuck, he was already changing me, slowly, a day at a time. He has a way of bringing the person out in people like us. If you'd have met me three years ago you would have been afraid of me, I was that cold. I had a nickname, just like you do; I had a reputation that I wasn't proud of, the same as you. The Enforcer was not someone you wanted to mess with." Nora blanched, her eyes growing huge as she realized who she was speaking to.

"Sarah Walker…" Nora breathed as she took a step back. Sarah gave Nora that same, caring smile and nodded. "You're the Ice Queen?" Sarah looked away, for a moment.

"I know that you have a nickname that you find hurtful. I'm not going to use it out of respect for you, I ask that you show me the same respect," Sarah said as she brought her hands down and looked at them, still seeing the metaphorical blood dripping off of them. "I've tried hard to change and leave that side of myself in the past."

In a flash, Nora was filled with shame, she'd done exactly what she hated the most. This wasn't even mentioning the fact that she did it to a legend like Sarah Walker.

"I'm so sorry, I can't believe I said that," Nora began as she closed the distance once again. "You just… you don't look like what I pictured when I heard stories about you." Sarah smiled and chuckled to herself while nodding.

"Yeah, Graham did a great job creating what you see today." Nora nodded, totally understanding.

"He certainly had a particular look that he wanted in his pet projects; tall, blonde haired, and able to show very little mercy. I didn't live up to his standards I guess," Nora said, trailing off as she tried not to remember all that he'd made her do.

"We're the only ones left, you and I," Sarah said pointing between the two of them. "As far as I can find, of the fifteen girls, we're the only two who lived longer than three years in the field. So, don't discount yourself too much." Nora had no idea the scope of Graham's schemes; the fact that she was one of two remaining gave her a small amount of pride followed by a tremendous sadness as she thought of all the women who Graham had snatched up and destroyed in his search for the perfect spy.

"Survivors," Nora said quietly, Sarah merely nodded, unsure if that was something to be proud of.

CHARMING'S AUTHORS NOTE #3: So, the team is finally together and Nora definitely has some healing to do. All in due time, my friends, all in due time. I know that all of you are going to be excited when I inform you that the second arc will continue past chapter 19. I've already finished chapter 20, though my lazy ass still needs to send it to Nev for a beta.

CHARMING'S AUTHORS NOTE #4: So, chapter eighteen is done, what did all of you think? If you're so inclined, I would love to hear from you by leaving me a review with your thoughts.

Until Next Time :D