That was an unexpected turn of events, and I wasn’t entirely sure how to react to the whole thing, other than to just go with it. It had been some time since I’d been intimate with anyone, and it had been such a long, strange day. As I laid there quietly with him, after he’d devoured every inch of me, I sighed into his chest, thinking of the right words to say in that moment, but everything in my mind falling short.

“Are you alright?” he asked softly, as he stroked my hair. “You’re so quiet.”

Smiling, and letting out a light chuckle, I replied, “I’m better than alright. I was just trying to think of what to say, to be honest. That was a surprising outcome to a long, rather crazy, day.”

He kissed the top of my head and snickered as well. “Yeah, I can honestly say that I didn’t expect this to happen, but I’m glad that it did.” He squeezed me close.

“Is this the part where we talk about what now and all that?” I asked bluntly, not really wanting to know the answer. Under the circumstances, and what we were doing the next day, I didn’t want to have any unresolved questions or awkwardness between us. I wasn’t entirely sure how I felt myself, although there was something familiar about being with him. Being with him was comfortable; we seemed to connect in a way that was as if we’d known each other forever.

“We can if you want,” he said.

“Umm, I don’t know?” I questioned, and then sat up a bit, meeting his glance as he looked down at me. That sounded like a no, and I was beginning to feel extremely awkward.

Sensing my concern, he smiled. “Listen, we’re both adults, right? I’ve never really done anything like this before. Certainly not with anyone who I like as much as you. So, I just want to make sure you know this isn’t some cheap one night stand of convenience or circumstance. When this is all over, I’d like to spend time with you. As me. As Davidson Kelso, not as the undercover guy. I think you’re incredible and I’ve never met anyone like you before.”

Certainly not the answer I was expecting, I smiled. “I like you too. I just didn’t want to make it weird, is all. I’m pretty open about things, and go after what I want. I definitely don’t go around sleeping with every agent I’m supposed to be checking up on. I wanted you to know that.”

Pulling me up toward him, he planted his lips on mine. “I never thought that for one second. Now, let’s get some rest. We’ve got some bad guys to catch tomorrow.”

The next morning, we had some breakfast, went over our plans, and checked in with our respective bosses. I decided to leave out the part about getting attacked at the bar, not wanting to file a report about it, and also not wanting to think about what happened to that guy.

“Ok, so you know the plan, right? We’re all set?” he asked me.

“I do. You’re going to go with Robbie to the drop off, and I am going to follow, and not get seen.”

“Yea, not like when you followed me, eh?” he teased.

“Listen, you’re better than the average agent. I’ve never been spotted before, so zip it,” I replied, sarcastically, causing him to laugh.

“I’m just teasing you. I trust you. At this point, all we have to do is make sure that no civilians get hurt, and we arrest Robbie and whomever else we can at the delivery point. Since neither of our agencies can assemble a team in time, it should be straightforward. Hopefully, we will have a better idea of the number of shitbags will be there.”

It was a relatively straightforward plan, yes. Unless there were ten guys at the delivery point. Then there were two of us, and ten of them, and I’d be spotted much faster. We’d spent the morning and early afternoon getting our firearms situated, and making sure that the wire Davidson was going to wear was functioning properly. Since he was already a part of the “crew,” there would be no reason for him to get patted down by anyone, and this way, I could hear what was happening in case anything changed. Finding a hiding spot would prove to be difficult, so we took a drive looking for the best place.

While it was kind of a rush job, I felt like we had it under control. My boss didn’t seem particularly concerned with the case, so long as we came out of it with some kind of an arrest. He made it exceedingly clear that it was to stay a DEA case, not FBI, and that I was simply on loan to the DEA. So it was their responsibility to assemble a backup team, if there was to be one. Since we already knew they were short-staffed, that obviously wasn’t happening, but Davidson was trying to arrange a team through other channels.

“Hopefully, it’ll be no more than two or three low level guys, and we can turn them later on Diego. It seems like that’s the best case scenario at this point,” I said.

“Well, I’m hoping the DOJ will get its head out of its ass by tonight, and come through for us, but at this point, you’re right. That is our best case scenario. I’d hoped to be able to catch Diego himself, but that’s not looking good.” He seemed disappointed. That’s a long time to be undercover, to only catch the lower tier of the gang, but he’d indicated to me earlier that as dopey as Robbie was, it seemed pretty likely that he knew a lot more than he let on. Sometimes, you simply have to work with what you’ve got.

Most of the day had been completely professional and consisted of us getting ready. By early evening, we had a couple of hours before we needed to get in place, and we were both pacing around his apartment. Between the two of us, we’d consumed a trough of coffee, and shared quite the laugh about it when we ran out. Since Davidson wouldn’t have to live in that apartment after the arrests, he didn’t didn’t bother to get any more.

“Come here,” he said to me with a demanding tone. He was standing in the window, just watching passers by.

“What’s up?” I expected that there was something outside he wanted me to see, but instead, he tugged me in close to him, taking my face in his hands. He pulled me up as he leaned down to kiss me softly, lingering.

“Thank you,” he whispered.

“Thank you for what?” I asked quietly, reeling from his intensity. He seemed to be holding back.

“I don’t know.” He paused, then leaned his head to the side thoughtfully. “For being here. For being you. For last night.” He kissed me again, taking my breath away. Although it had literally been one day, I was so consumed by him, in a way that I’d only expect if I’d known him much longer.

Wanting to lighten the mood, it didn’t seem like the right time for another talk, I grinned and said, “You’re welcome,” like it was a question, before kissing him again.

We had agreed that I would head out in advance of Robbie coming by to pick him up, and the time had finally come to get this show on the road. He grabbed me before I left, giving me a long, closed mouth kiss. “Be careful tonight. If anything goes sideways, get the fuck out of there and get backup. Do not put yourself in a bad situation, Portia. Promise me.”

“I’m a seasoned agent, Davidson. I got this. I got you,” I emphasized the latter. He seemed concerned, but it was go time, and we had a job to do.