"Alex, you are scaring me."

"No more fear, Ca.s.sidy, just the truth. I promised no secrets. I meant it. Please?" Ca.s.sidy nodded. "No matter what, you need to know that nothing is more important to me than you and Dylan. Nothing."

"I have a feeling I might need some of that anxiety medication," Ca.s.sidy offered with a deep breath as she followed the agent back to their room.

"What are you telling me?" Jane Merrow asked pointedly. Jon Krause sighed deeply and looked to her with heavy eyes. "Are you telling me that Congressman O'Brien shot Alex? Is that what you are telling me, Jon?" The fury in her voice seemed to increase with every syllable. "Just what the h.e.l.l is going on here? What does this have to do with John?"

"Jane," he began carefully as he slowly bridged the distance between them. "I did what I could where John was concerned. This isn't about John. It's Claire and it's...o...b..ien."

The former first lady closed her eyes tightly and grabbed onto the agent's arms. "I know you did what you could."

He pulled her closer and kissed the top of her head. "I have to see Toles."

She pulled away abruptly and questioned him fearfully, "Jon...I don't..."

"I have to. I need you to work with Matt..."

"Jon...."

"Listen to me," he said softly as he pulled her closer again. "Claire killed Elliot."

"What?" her voice echoed her disbelief.

"This is spiraling, all of it. I need Toles. Ian and I...."

Jane shook her head and turned, covering her eyes in frustration. "Jon, what the h.e.l.l was he into? This isn't simply..."

"Jane, John was trying, trying to change things...I don't know...that is not what my role is. You know that. I know enough, enough to..."

Jane Merrow looked up into her friend's eyes. "You're afraid for them, aren't you?"

"Yes. I am."

She nodded and covered her eyes again. "O'Brien...he's not part of the..."

"He is self-serving, Janie...if I could..." She looked at him conveying her concern. "I won't, but I'd like to," he told her.

"You need to be careful," she warned him.

"This is who I am."

"You should tell her, Jon."

"Tell who, what?" Krause asked.

"Tell Ca.s.sidy about O'Brien."

He chuckled. "No....Toles will tell her."

"Alex knows?"

"I'm sure your good agent has put the pieces together by now about O'Brien. I need her. She and Matthews are tight. She can get closer..."

"I can't lose you, not any of you...not after..."

Krause heard the panic in Jane's voice. "Call Matt. Tell him I am in."

"You know once you cross this line..."

"I'm already over it, Jane. Mitch.e.l.l and I are in. I will find out what John was doing, why the Russians were so...where SPHINX leads."

"Just promise me, Jon...no matter what, I promised him...."

"Jane, I will do whatever I have to. I won't let anything happen to Dylan or Ca.s.sidy," he said emphatically. "I'll do whatever I can to protect Agent Toles, but I can't keep her out of this. That is not who she is. You know that too. This is what we do, Jane. It's what we were built for. Brackett and O'Brien have to be controlled and there are...well, I have to see her. She'll have questions."

He turned to leave and Jane grabbed his arm. "If you did," Krause stopped, searching her eyes for her meaning. "I mean... if the congressman were to....well, I would not shed any tears." He nodded. "If you are going to see Alex, I am going with you."

"Jane, you risk compromising..."

"Jon, they both deserve to know what we are headed into."

"Ca.s.sidy is not in...."

Jane took his strong face in her hands with a deep understanding. She leaned into him and spoke softly, "we don't choose who to love, Jon. We both know that. But, who we love....This effects them both. Dylan...and Alex is her..."

He closed his eyes and leaned into the gentleness of her touch. "I know."

She pulled back and looked at him as her tears glistened. "You are good man, Jonathan."

"I wish that were true."

"It is," she said quietly as she turned to leave.

"Brady?"

"Sir," Steven Brady answered.

"Where the h.e.l.l have you been?" Taylor blared through the phone.

"I was detained."

"By what?"

"Not by what, by whom." Taylor rubbed his hand across his forehead and prepared himself for the coming conversation as Brady continued. "Toles, how is..."

"Agent Toles is already home, Brady. Seems she has some very unlikely friends."

"Seems we all do, Sir."

"Explain," Taylor said pointedly.

"I will when I get back. What I do know...well," he paused. "O'Brien shot..."

"I'm aware," the director said. "He and Brackett arrived back in D.C. late this evening."

"Does Alex know?"

"I haven't spoken to her yet. How did you get..."

"Seems the Brackett clan has made more enemies than friends," Brady explained.

"And this new ally you've found?"

Brady took a deep breath. He antic.i.p.ated Taylor's skepticism. He still had a fair degree of his own. "He has his reasons."

"I see."

"Sir, I need Toles."

"She has been ordered home for two weeks," Taylor responded.

"I don't need her in the field. I need her eyes."

Taylor sighed. "For?"

"Russia, ASA, Nigeria, U.S. Congressional Campaigns. Even my source isn't completely sure how they all..."

Michael Taylor understood. "I have some ideas. I'll see you in New York Wednesday morning. Just get home Agent Brady, with everything you have. I'll be certain Agent Toles gets the pieces."

Tuesday, April 29th "What in the h.e.l.l were you thinking, Claire?"

"Oh please...."

Admiral William Brackett's cool exterior had long since vanished. "You...you stepped so far over the line..."

The tall redhead smirked. "Oh, now Daddy, watch your heart." She leisurely took a seat on the sofa in his private office and reclined. "We were never there."

"You know as well as I do that everyone who matters knows exactly..."

She shrugged. "What is it that bothers you, Daddy? Are you that afraid of Agent Toles? Or is it Jon?" His face tightened further and began to flush. "Or is it Edmond? No? Maybe it's the idea that you are not in control anymore." He shook his head. "You set me up, tried to back me into a corner. You taught me better than that." She paused again and gloated. "Never corner a cobra," she offered smugly.

The admiral shook his head. "Claire, you are more nave than you are brash. A cobra?" She tipped her head and smiled with satisfaction. "A sparrow is more dangerous than a cobra, Claire." She looked at him quizzically. "Not as smart as I thought you were. I spent a fair amount of time in Southeast Asia... if you recall. Cobras, they are not the dangerous animal you portray. They are large and easily visible. And, unless provoked they do very little harm. Corner them, they hiss. They are solitary animals; unlikely to get close enough to do any harm to anyone. Even when cornered they prefer escape." The admiral looked at his daughter as her expression gradually became uneasy. "Sparrows, sparrows are small and una.s.suming. They are social animals. They can easily get close. They don't need venom. They are charming and appear innocent. They can win over a human heart. They can listen silently or sing their tune."

He moved toward a bookcase in his office and turned to her. "A sparrow or a snake, Claire?" She stared at him blankly. "I see. So then, you are the cobra." He chuckled. "The Russians? Dimitri? That's where you went?" She continued to stare at the older man as he reached for a tattered book on the shelf. "I used to read this to you when you were small. You may not remember." His hand affectionately caressed the binding and he smiled at the cover. "Rudyard Kipling. I think you should revisit it." He handed her the worn copy of The Jungle Book. "Dimitri, Claire; do you know his handle?" She looked at the book in her hands and back to her father. "Mongoose." He smiled at his daughter and pointed to the book in her hands. "Rikki Tikki Tavi, it's in there." He shook his head. "Read it."

Wednesday, April 30th lex walked into the kitchen and spied Ca.s.sidy dancing and singing slightly off key to an unfamiliar tune. The teacher was clearly oblivious to the agent's presence and Alex took the opportunity to lean in the doorway and enjoy the show. She could faintly hear the music playing in Ca.s.sidy's ears and covered her mouth with her hand to keep from laughing. The past couple of days had been stressful. Alex was still in considerable pain, Dylan was waking often with nightmares of his own and Ca.s.sidy was reeling from everything. Watching her lover now, Alex felt as if the weight that had been pressing in on them all had finally begun to lift.

Ca.s.sidy spun around on her heels to grab a towel and caught sight of the agent. It startled her enough to scream and she jumped nearly a foot backwards. "Alex!"

The agent could no longer contain her laughter as she made her way to Ca.s.sidy, whose face had flushed to a bright shade of pink. "You are adorable." Alex smiled and wrapped her good arm around Ca.s.sidy, who buried an embarra.s.sed face into the agent's chest. Alex kissed the top of a shaking head. "You've got some moves, there." Ca.s.sidy pushed back and snapped the towel at the agent, poking at her cheek with her tongue in mock disgust. She pulled out her ear phones and tossed the player on the counter. "What?" Alex asked innocently. She mocked a little groove of her own and winked at her lover.

"You're funny."

The agent made her way back to the teacher and pulled her close. "Maybe I should take you dancing."

"You are enjoying this, aren't you?" Ca.s.sidy asked. Alex shrugged and smiled. "That's what I thought." Ca.s.sidy started to pull away but Alex pulled her back, slowly swaying them together. "What are you doing?" Ca.s.sidy grinned.

"I thought you wanted to dance."

"Alex, there's no music."

"No?"

Ca.s.sidy looked up into the agent's eyes and smiled. "Are you sure you didn't hit your head when you fell? I don't recall them telling me...." Her words were abruptly stopped by a soft kiss. She took a deep breath as Alex pulled back. "Alex..."

"Yes?" the agent asked as she leaned in for another kiss, running her hand gently through the teacher's hair.

"This is not a good idea."

"What's that?" the agent mumbled as her lips traveled slowly along Ca.s.sidy's neck.

"You are supposed to be relaxing..."

"I am relaxed," Alex whispered heavily into her lover's ear.

Ca.s.sidy sighed. "If you don't stop..."

"Mm?"

"Alex..." Ca.s.sidy's hands were gripping the agent's head and she was finding it increasingly difficult to stand on her own power. "We shouldn't..."

"No, we shouldn't," Alex mumbled, pushing Ca.s.sidy against the counter.

"Your arm..."

"Ca.s.s?"

"Mm?"

Alex ran her hand slowly along Ca.s.sidy's side to the top of her jeans and released the b.u.t.ton. "Stop talking," she whispered. Alex lost herself in the woman she loved. She had no thought of the days that had pa.s.sed, no sense of any physical pain. In this moment there was only Ca.s.sidy and she suddenly needed to feel closer to her, to hold her, to touch her, to remind herself that this was everything in her world; this beautiful, wonderful, compa.s.sionate woman. The simplest moments with Ca.s.sidy took Alex's breath away and she never wanted to let one slip by. "I need you."

Ca.s.sidy tugged at her bottom lip, unable to form a coherent thought as Alex tenderly explored her body. There was something in the agent's touch that told Ca.s.sidy that this was a moment Alex needed as much as she did. She had missed the closeness that they shared in the last few days. It wasn't desire that fueled her. It was exactly what Alex had said. It was need. It was the need to know that Alex was real, that she was honestly safe. It was a need to know that she was part of Ca.s.sidy; the part that moved her beyond reason or logic. Alex looked into Ca.s.sidy's eyes and as she touched her gently, tears began to roll down the teacher's cheeks. "I never want to be without you," Ca.s.sidy managed as she moved in time with her lover.

Alex took a deep breath and let the hint of a smile grace her face. "Never," Alex whispered. There was something in the way Ca.s.sidy held onto her now that Alex understood was not simply pa.s.sion. There was fear. The fear of losing this; losing each other. In their short time together both had looked that fear in the eye. Alex could feel the reality washing over them both now. Most of the time it felt like an eternity that they had been together, but in truth they had just found one another. "You are everything to me, Ca.s.sidy. I promise, I am not leaving you." Ca.s.sidy gave over to the agent completely, unable to form words, she pulled Alex so close to her that she was certain even air could not exist between them. "I'm here," Alex promised. She felt Ca.s.sidy collapse into her; the teacher's tears racking her violently. "It's okay, Ca.s.s."

"Alex...I thought I'd lost you."

The agent closed her eyes and held her lover against her as tightly as she could. Ca.s.sidy had been focused on taking care of everyone else. The anger the teacher felt over Alex's revelation about her ex-husband and the shooting prevented her from confronting the depth of her own emotions. Being close to Alex, feeling her, destroyed the wall Ca.s.sidy had managed to erect. Now that it had crumbled Alex understood that she needed to help Ca.s.sidy feel safe again. "Let it go."