Washington, D.C. The city was nothing short of surprises. Especially post-outbreak. If it wasn't one dilemma, it was another, and given the circumstances, things had been pretty fucked up since Black Friday. Outcasts, Hyenas, True Sons, Black Tusk, the Underground, even the occasional sighting of a Hunter; you name it, it was there to cause trouble and disturb the peace. Those groups always kept the agents of the Strategic Homeland Division busy.

Today was a particularly hellacious and busy day. The "Sheriff" and his group of agents from around D.C. had taken on and defeated the Black Tusk at Washington International Airport. Truth be told, he was getting really tired. Really tired and pissed off. You'd think that being in the city and saving the majority of the JTF's asses would have at least earned him the right of somebody asking what his actual name was; everybody just called him "The Sheriff", everyone except four of his fellow agents. But that was different for the sole fact that three of them were his squad mates from his original cell, and the other was the toughest woman he'd ever met in his entire life, Agent Alani Kelso. His name was Christopher Cage, and he and his squad were known as The Animals. The sad fact, however, was that he just didn't have time to socialize. Not like there was much to talk about anyhow these days.

Hey, how've you been? Oh, I'm making it just fine I suppose. You know how it is, sabotaging True Sons' DC-62 supply, killing a bunch of Hyenas, finding Agent Edwards strung up and brutally murdered. I'm living the capitalist dream! Christopher couldn't help but chuckle to himself. Yeah he'd get a woman's number in no time with a conversation starter like that.

Christopher couldn't remember the last time a day went by where he didn't kill somebody. Sure, there was no shortage of scum in this city that needed to be wiped from the face of the Earth, but that didn't make the killing any easier. He was beginning to enjoy it, the killing. To him, there was just something about it that felt pure, as if even though he was taking another life he was making the world a better place, and hey, that's something he could live with.

He realized he enjoyed the killing when the team mowed through the entire airport in just under an hour. I wonder how the others feel about it all. Looking around, Christopher took in the sight of his fellow agents. Jared Price, the gunner of the team, had been one of the four guys injured in the assault on the airport. He'd live, but it'd be a while before he could use his left arm again, and that meant staying at the main Base of Operations. Jared hated staying behind while everybody else went out. However, he always managed to be productive while he was at the Base of Operations, whether it be instructing a team of JTF soldiers on their aiming in the gun range in the lower levels, or in an intelligence briefing on bounties that had been placed on the many enemies throughout the city.

James Ferrer was a unique case. The technician of the group, he was always tinkering with some kind of SHD tech. And whenever he wasn't tinkering with it, he was putting it to deadly use. Christopher always enjoyed the perks that ISAC and the SHD tech brought, but James practically worshipped it. This was the guy that had managed to turn a cluster seeker mine, that originally housed four separate explosives, into a baseball-sized powerhouse of 11 explosives. Needless to say, James loved his toys. Between the mines and his P-017 guided rocket launcher, that man was set.

Lastly, there was Cody Revots. Here was a man that found shooting a crossbow with explosive bolts at an Outcast suicide bomber to be a "safety precaution". When asked about it, his answer was always the same. "Is it a waste of explosives? Maybe. Is it redundant? Most definitely. Destroying explosives with explosives is something my old man would have called counter-productive. Maybe that's why I do it, because it reminds me of him." Aside from Cody, there was the other four man team of agents. Christopher didn't know them that well, aside from their callsigns, but they worked like a damn good team altogether, getting the job done.

The chopper ride back was peaceful. No threat of being shot down out of the sky, just a nice little ride back to the White House. Christopher's mind was already made up; get back to the base, wind down for the day, take a hot shower and then get a decent meal and some much needed sleep. Manny had already told the two squads that they had set aside separate rooms for the each of them. "After all," the comms runner had said, "heroes deserve the rewards that they fought to achieve." Damn straight.

Whenever the chopper landed on the helo-pad, the men got off and trudged down the staircase, where they were welcomed by a multitude of JTF officials, along with fellow agents like Alani Kelso and Odessa Sawyer. It didn't take long for word to spread around what the raiders had done to the Black Tusk. Everybody was giving them applause, whistles, and cheers. For the first time in months, Christopher and his men felt like they were the knights in shining armor, like whenever they had first been activated.

Falling back into the White House, the eight agents made their way to the rooms that had been set aside for them all. Christopher spoke with all of them, congratulating them and saying that with their work ethic and cohesiveness as a group, the eight of them would bring down Aaron Keener in no time. They all bid farewell to one another for the night, going their separate ways throughout the White House. Christopher then went to his room, finally letting loose and taking it easy.

As he entered the room, he set the grenade launcher on the table with all of the 40mm rounds, then proceeded to downgrade from all of his armor to just his regular clothing. Now to get to the latrine before Cody does. That fucker always uses up too much of the hot water. Grabbing another set of clothing along with his hygienic bag, Christopher arrived to the latrine and was quite happy to find that he was the only one there; which meant he'd get first dibs on the hot water.

It also meant he'd have some much needed privacy, which was in short supply whenever it came to the shower area. The man just needed some time to himself, to contemplate on what all would be next, who would need saving, and how he was going to stop the next big threat. These thoughts and more were racing through his mind as the scalding hot water came down upon him. He looked down at his hands, looking at the callouses that had taken shape from all the guns and knives he'd wielded against those that meant him harm.

In the process of washing, his hand traced the scar on his left shoulder that the Hunter with yellow striped mask had given him. It had taken a full month for him to recover from the injury, and while his team did well and completed the missions without him, it still didn't change the fact that his encounter with the "high-threat hostile in proximity" had left psychological scars as well as the physical ones. Aside from that, the yellow striped one, whom he had dubbed "Stinger", was the only one in the DC area that he had not killed yet. All of the other 12 Hunters had been successfully neutralized by Christopher and his squad. He wanted to go after the bastard, take his own axe, and cut his damn head off with it.

In the meantime though, fuck that guy. Me and my guys just saved the city from being swarmed by the drones of the Razorback. We prevented another attempted Black Tusk takeover. Stinger can just hold tight and enjoy life while he still can. Cause whenever I catch up to him, he's good as dead.

As he turned off the water and finished drying up, it was about that time that the latrine door opened and none other than agent Alani Kelso, the woman with no fear, walked right in to the sight of his naked form. This action earned a surprised and frightened yelp from both Division agents, who were beginning to turn a deep shade of red. Christopher scrambled to wrap his towel around him while Alani was desperately trying to avoid looking at the man.

As unprofessional as the thought is, Christopher sure is packing. Both up and downstairs. Man the kind of night I would have with him – Whoa whoa whoa Kelso. What the fuck kind of thinking is that?! You have once again managed to become the queen of dumbass thoughts. Shit! You haven't said a word yet to him! Apologize before he walks out and things become awkward!

"I- I'm terribly sorry I walked in on you. I- uh, I- um, didn't know you were in here." She finally looked over to see that he had wrapped the towel around his waist, leaving his upper body area exposed. He looked as embarrassed as she probably did, completely red in the face and looking nervous as humanly possible.

"Y-You're fine, n- no worries, I promise. I'll just be heading on my way then." Christopher gathered his clothes and walked out, trying not to look Alani Kelso in the eye. He hadn't been with a woman in a while, and to suddenly have one bust in while he was in the nude definitely made him slightly self-conscience to his appearance. But that was neither here nor there. The two of them had a strictly professional relationship. Ok, maybe not strictly professional. She too was one of the agents who knew his actual name. He had taken a bullet for her during their mission to recover Odessa Sawyer's daughter from the Hyenas. She had always been grateful to him for that, yet she had never actually thanked him. She wasn't one much for words anyhow.

Christopher got back to the designated changing room, and began to get dressed until he realized that he had left his sidearm in the shower area; with D.C. being as dangerous as it was, he didn't take any chances, even within the confines of the walls of the White House. Still only wearing the towel wrapped around his waist, he trudged back in, opening the door to the shower area, only for he himself to be surprised with the naked form of Alani Kelso, who had decided to shower as well.

Once again, their respective reactions were the same as before, only Alani had decided to speak up and say, "What the actual fuck!" to which he responded, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I left my sidearm in here!" Averting his eyes from the sight of her naked form, he walked forward to grab his sidearm on the sink next to the threshold of the shower area. However, fate had decided to be a cruel bitch on this day, because whenever Christopher stepped forward, his towel was caught on the nail of the doorway, ripping away his means of concealment. Alani, who had been watching it all, was once again surprised with the sight of the Sheriff's other "sidearm". Christopher had yelped in surprise and immediately moved to conceal his nether region, but only managed to partially conceal it, considering the fact that he was still trying to get his pistol.

Needless to say though, Alani was impressed with the man's build, having yet another glance at his physique. Christopher immediately felt eyes staring into him, and gave up on trying to avoid having any further part of himself being exposed, as Alani just stood there, no longer bothering to cover herself up. An awkward and heavy silence settled between the two, and Christopher turned around and was about to walk out before Alani spoke, "I never got the chance that day to say thank you for taking that bullet for me. We were rushed back to the Theatre settlement, and you were losing a lot of blood. After you went under for the surgery and removal of the bullet, we both had separate assignments and I just never got around to seeing you. Not until today, that is."

Turning his head, Christopher glanced back at Alani and said, "I know. Life here lately has been so fubar that you never know what'll happen next. And you never had to say thank you Alani. You said thank you whenever you kept me from bleeding out." He looked away for a moment, and then looked back to her, but she had moved towards him in that short timespan, getting right into his personal space. Her eyes flickered over to the large scar on his left shoulder with a look of concern. She'd heard stories of an agent who survived a strike from a Hunter's axe and lived to tell the tale.

"Wait, is that what I think it is?" She reached a hand out, as if to touch it, and Christopher felt a jolt run through him whenever her hand laid itself directly upon his scar from the encounter with Stinger. "This is the scar from your one on one encounter with the last Hunter isn't it?" He nodded solemnly. "I was attacked by the last Hunter in D.C. If it hadn't been for my guys showing up when they did, I wouldn't be alive. Jared and James chased him off once he got the drop on me while Cody attempted to stop the bleeding, but I was out of action for a month. I was lucky not to be anymore injured than I was. I'd been tracking this guy for a while. Oddly enough the day after I recovered from the wound and was cleared for combat was the day I took the bullet for you."

He chuckled. "I've got to have some of the worst luck in the history of ever." Alani moved her hand from his left shoulder to the back of his neck. When she spoke, her voice had taken on a softer tone, it wasn't the harsh Army Ranger he was used to hearing. "Well you might be unlucky, but I was damn lucky to have you there for me. Because if you hadn't taken that bullet for me when you did, I would definitely be dead. And I can't thank you enough for it."

She moved another step closer to Christopher, this time really getting into his personal space. It suddenly occurred to Christopher that here he was, fully naked, and here she was, fully naked, with no more than a meter between the two of them. "But," she spoke again softly, "I think I know a way to show it." And at that, with her hand still on the back of his neck gripping him, she brought him down to meet her in the middle. There, she kissed him gently on the lips, to which he returned in kind after the initial shock had passed over him. After she broke the kiss, she slapped him on his ass, something he was not at all expecting. "That was for walking in on me," she stated. Having recovered from the shock, Christopher responded, "Yeah? Well this is for walking in on me," to which he then slapped her on her ass. Slack-jawed, she decided to surprise him once again; not with another slap, but with another kiss. Having anticipated it this time around, Christopher embraced her fully while he kissed her. He broke the kiss, looked back at her, expecting some kind of reprimand or something of the sort, as such was Kelso's way of life. Yet all she did was look him in the eye with an expression of burning desire. The two then shared a kiss that kindled the sparks of what was soon to be a night of fiery passion.

Once the both of them were well on the path to fornicating in the shower areas, two things suddenly occurred to Christopher. One, both of them were naked, kissing, their hands were beginning to roam, and both of their moans weren't at all quiet. And two, the both of them were in a compromising position that could be interrupted at any given moment. Yeah Christopher wasn't about to let that happen. He broke the kiss between them. Alani looked up at him with confusion, poised to speak but Christopher cut her off, saying, "I would rather we do this in my room, a room with a lock and a high chance of not being disturbed, than in a room where we could have our moment barged in on at any given time." She nodded her head up and down, agreeing with him wholeheartedly. "Yeah, I'd rather that didn't happen."

She managed to squeeze in a couple more kisses before breaking away so that she could dry off and get dressed. He returned to where his other stuff was, and also got dressed. So quickly, the two Agents rushed back to his room on the lower levels of the Base of Operations. Christopher had chosen his room well, as there were no adjacent rooms or neighbors. Having been the Agent that saved the White House from that Hyena attack so long ago, his reward was to pick his own private room. Once they were behind his door and it was locked, he surprised her by picking her up and carrying her over to the mattress, which was pulled away from the wall, which happened to seem convenient to both of them given the circumstances. The man didn't particularly care for aesthetics in his room, other than an old, beat up chest which housed some clothes of his, a lamp, a table and chair, and the bed itself. Once they had both settled down onto the bed, they proceeded to strip each other of their clothes until they were in the same situation they had found themselves in earlier on, albeit slightly dryer and now completely undisturbed.

Christopher's mind was completely blown away. He and Alani Frickin' Kelso were in HIS room, on HIS bed, in the process of having SEX. Wow. If somebody had told him when he woke up this morning that he and Alani would shack up, not only would he have laughed, he would have found Alani, made the guy who told him tell her, then laugh at said guy whenever Alani would break his nose.

Leaving a trail of kisses up and down her body only made Alani's moaning get louder. While they were trying to maintain some kind of secrecy with their actions, as Division agents weren't exactly allowed to hook up with one another, it soon got to the point where both agents no longer cared if they were loud or not. The door was locked, and the windows were closed, (the fan was on, thank God) that's all that mattered in that sense. Finally, after minutes of foreplay (Christopher discovered Alani was just as aggressive in bed as she was on the battlefield), he entered her; both let out a shaky breath, as a connection so strong as what they currently shared had not been felt in so long. Christopher, with each thrust, felt that much closer to Alani. She was clinging to him as if there were no tomorrow, urging him to keep going, don't stop, and please go harder, all to which he happily obliged. The fire burning in the pit of his stomach was something that he soon felt throughout his whole body. It all made him feel like the firebird that represented their agency, and he imagined that she felt something of a similar sense.

Getting closer to the edge, Alani had stopped speaking at this point, only taking in sharp breaths and letting out moans, until she felt that she was right on the edge. At that instant, she wrapped her legs around Christopher, wanting to embrace it with him. Around the same time she climaxed, so did he. Completely speechless, out of breath, and already tired from the day's earlier activities at the airport, Christopher was beginning to fall in a trance that would eventually lead to a peaceful slumber. Not wanting to leave him be nor be alone that night, Alani did something that neither of them would have thought that she would do before that moment; she hooked a leg around one of his, and then pulled herself over to him so that she could rest her head on his chest. Christopher then wrapped both of his arms around her in a comforting, protective embrace, as if she would be taken from him and this moment of bliss would be lost. The both of them realized there probably would not be another time like this, where they're both so vulnerable and exposed to one another in a light that no one else had seen. So for that night, they took in every moment with the other that they could get, meaning more rounds of passion, more chances for the both of them to burn with the fire of a phoenix. For when the sun came up the next day, they both knew that they'd be thrust back into the violent world that had become their day-to-day life.

Little did they know that their world was changed forever on that night. For on that night, Christopher Cage and Alani Kelso had conceived a child.