Dan sat in the back of the C-130, his eyes closed, Tasha sleeping soundly beside him with her head in his lap. Across from him, Edward and Kelli Griffin were also asleep. He was exhausted and nodding in the twilight of half-sleep, that time where everything seemed so clear. He stroked Tasha’s hair slowly.

She’d saved him. As surely as he was sitting here, she’d saved him from the demons consuming his soul. She’d given him redemption and a purpose. He hadn’t done it alone, but with her help, and the help of Derrick and Rich, he’d saved the Griffins, and maybe, just maybe, the world, and he was falling hopelessly, madly, unstoppably in love. She said she loved him, despite the mistakes he’d made in the past. He smiled to himself, his hand brushing lightly over her hair again. Maybe, just maybe, taken together, that was enough to balance the scales.

The plane touching down woke him. He felt refreshed. Seven hours of sleep would do that. He jiggled Tasha awake and she sat up, yawning and wiping at her eyes.

“Are we there?” she asked, her voice clear over the intercom.

“Just landed.”

“Ah, shit, I’m sore,” she said as she tried to twist the kinks out.

They stayed in their seats as the plane rolled to a smooth stop. The loadmaster ushered them out, and a black Chevy Suburban waited for them at the bottom of the ramp.

“Doctors Edward and Kelli Griffin, Sergeant Thames, Ms. Sampson, if you please,” the smartly dressed man said as he opened the rear door on the truck. They entered and were driven to the American embassy in Tel Aviv. Three men and a woman waited as the truck pulled to a stop in the underground garage. Each of them were assigned to a person.

“Hey!” Dan called as they were separated. “See you in a bit,” he said before giving her a quick kiss. He was an old hand at debriefs, and he suspected Tasha was as well, but the Griffins were probably terrified. “Hang on a second,” he said as the woman started to lead him away. “Ed, Kelli, some people are going to ask you a bunch of questions. It’s normal and nothing to worry about, okay? They’re simply trying to learn what happened. They’re not blaming you for anything. Answer all their questions, and Tasha and I will see you later. Relax. You’re safe now.”

The doctors looked him and nodded. He followed the attractive woman in the crisp blue suit to a small room. There was a small table and two chairs.

“Please, take a seat,” she said, motioning to a chair.

He stepped in and the door closed. He heard the click of the lock snapping shut. He smiled tightly and waggled his fingers at the camera in a comical wave. Every debriefing room in the world probably looked the same.

He sat for about three minutes, his legs stretched out and his fingers interlaced comfortably on his chest. There was no point in fidgeting. It wouldn’t speed anything up. He heard the lock open and he looked around as a woman entered. She was dark-haired with a few strands of grey, her grey suit and white blouse opened to show off her abundant cleavage, and three-inch heels brought her height to about five-five.

“Sergeant Thames, I’m Candice Houghton, with the NSA. I’m here to debrief you.”

Dan stood, and they shook hands. For the next hour they ran over the operation. Candice focused heavily on the shooting of the whores in the hotel and the deaths of Long and Tesley. He told it straight, leaving nothing out. Once Candice was satisfied, they moved on, the woman asking a question now and then to clarify a point, but mostly letting him speak.

“You and Sampson started a relationship?” she asked when he finished.

“That’s right.”

“A physical relationship?”

“That’s right.”

“Do you think it’s a good idea to be involved with a member of your team while on a mission?”

“I think it’s none of anyone’s goddamned business.”

“Why are you so defensive about it?”

“I’m not.”

“You seem to be.”

“Then you’re mistaken. We were thrown into the shit with inadequate training and inadequate support. We were forced to improvise from the first day. We—”

“What does that have to do with you having a physical relationship with Ms. Sampson?”

“Nothing, but we had to pose as husband and wife.”

“So, you were just acting the part?”

He smiled at her. “No. We had to depend only on each other. It was—”

“So that was part of you making sure you could trust her?”

“Do you want to tell me how it happened, or should I tell you? Either way is fine with me, but it’ll save a lot of time if only one of us talks.”

Candice had the decency to blush. “I’m sorry, please continue.”

“As I said, we had only each other to depend on. It was tough, and stressful, and with the loss of Long and Tesley, especially so. It simply sort of happened as we tried to keep our shit together.”

She nodded. “So you were comforting her, and one thing lead to another?”

“More or less, but she was comforting me too. I’d lost two men I’d spent three months with. So had Tasha, so yeah, one thing led to another. To be honest, it was probably just as well it did. It probably helped us complete the mission.”

“On the…” She paused as she looked at her notes. “On the Hangula Queen.”

“That’s right. It gave us a cover that probably bought us several hours.”

“So, would you say the sexual relationship was part of your cover to complete the mission?”

He grinned. Making love to Tasha at every opportunity had had nothing to do with the mission. “Yeah, that’s it. Why don’t you put that in your report?”

Candice smiled, a true smile for the first time. “Maybe I will.” She sat staring at him a moment. “I think that concludes our initial debrief. When you get back to the States, there will be a more extensive debrief.” She leaned her elbows on the table, pushing her breasts up. “I will tell you, I’ve never seen a more fucked up mission than this one, yet somehow, you managed to pull all your asses out of the fire.”

“It wasn’t only me. Tasha did as much, maybe more, than I did. And despite what happened to them, Derrick and Rich got us started with the first clue. And it cost them.”

“A shame, for sure.” She slid her chair back. “I’m sure I’ll see you again at Fort Meade. Tomorrow, you, Sampson, and the Griffins will fly home on a regularly scheduled cargo transport. You will fly directly to Andrews. As far as the world is concerned, you never left Davis-Monthan.” She paused and smiled again. “Until then, we’re going to get you a decent meal, some fresh clothes, and a place to sleep. We’d set aside three rooms. Should we change it to two, or do you and Tasha want to sneak into each other’s rooms for sport?”

He smirked. “Two rooms please.”

She reached across the table and he shook her hand again. “Damn fine job, Thames. Too bad nobody will ever know what you did for your country, or the world, for that matter.”

“Part of the job description.”

She nodded. “Don’t I know it. I’ve been in intelligence for twenty years. The things I could tell you…but can’t. My ex-husband was also in intelligence. We sat around at night, staring at each other because we couldn’t tell each about our days.”

He chuckled. “One of the hazards of the profession, I guess.”

“Yeah.” She opened the door, and the same woman who escorted him to the room was waiting. “Now I merely pick up some young stud, bang him until I get tired of him, then pick out another one. Simpler that way.”

He snickered. “Can I ask you a personal question?”

“You can ask, but I won’t guarantee I’ll answer.”

“Are all women in the intelligence field so...”

“Forward?”

He nodded. “Yeah. That’s a good word.”

She patted his chest. “In this arena, being reserved doesn’t get the job done. If you want something, you have to take it.” She gave him a comically exaggerated look up and down. “Speaking of which, if Sampson gets tired of you, give me a call. You look like a man that knows what a woman wants. I wouldn’t mind giving you a ride.”

He grinned. Forward indeed. “I’ll keep that in mind, but don’t wait by the phone.”

“Yeah, I’d be so lucky.” She glanced at the woman. “Put him in with Sampson.”

“Yes, ma’am. This way, sir.”

She led him to a large room and opened the door for him. “This is your room. Dial zero if you need anything,” she said, pointing at the phone.

He was sitting in a chair, watching the Mediterranean beyond the window, when Tasha arrived. She smiled as the door closed behind her. “We’re sharing a room? Good.”

“How’d your debrief go?”

She rolled her eyes. “They got an earful from me about how not to run an operation. We spent a lot of time on Tesley and Long. Understandable, I guess.”

“Did you admit we were sleeping together?”

She smiled. “I didn’t exactly tell them, but they sort of figured it out. When they asked me, I told them straight out we were, and if they didn’t like it, I didn’t care. I’d already quit, so they could go ahead and fire me.”

“What’d they say about that?”

“They weren’t too happy about it, but I guess they decided not to make a big deal out of it. It helps that we’re heroes.”

“Yeah. The same here. Do you know a Candice Houghton?”

“Know of her, why?”

“She debriefed me.”

Her eyes narrowed. “She’s a cougar. Did she try to seduce you? If she did, I’ll cut her fucking heart out.”

“No, nothing like that,” he said, deciding to keep what she said to himself. He had all the woman he could handle in front of him. “She seemed to know you.”

“She’s an Assistant Deputy-Director, but I’ve never actually met her.”

He nodded. “You hungry? I’m starving.”

She smiled. “I could eat something.”

“Yeah, me too, but I meant food.”

She snickered as she moved to the phone and dialed zero. “This is Sampson. Thames and I need an escort to breakfast.”

They had a traditional American breakfast of bacon, eggs, toast, and coffee, and it was wonderful. As they ate, they were given visitor badges with the instructions that if the badge would open the door, they were allowed and welcome to enter.

After breakfast, they spent the day exploring the complex. Most doors wouldn’t open, but they found the pool, a small garden, a gymnasium, and a theater. Between meals, they’d sat in the garden and stripped down to their underwear and splashed in the pool until they were spending more time grinding their bodies together in the water while kissing than swimming. Realizing that would lead to a potentially embarrassing situation at best, and an unwanted pregnancy at worst, they stopped before the situation got completely out of control.

They also spent some time in the gym, working the weights before returning to their room to shower and change for dinner. The best part of the day was the fact the Embassy staff was busy and they had the garden, pool, and gym all to themselves. After the stress of the mission, it felt good to do what they wanted, for as long as they wanted, without having any worries.

The theater opened for a movie nightly at eight, so after dinner, they joined about fifty others and watched Captain America: Civil War, complete with popcorn. Dan enjoyed the movie, but not as much as Tasha’s softly caressing his leg throughout most of the movie.

“I want you so bad,” Tasha moaned as he joined her in bed and snuggled into her back.

“I want you, but…” He kissed her on the shoulder as he cupped her breasts in his hands. The feel of her firm ass planted in his crotch made him ache for her.

“I know. No fucking pills. I’m getting my prescription refilled as soon as we get home.”

He smiled at the name they’d taken to calling her birth control pills. “Then how long?”

“A week.”

He moaned dramatically. “I don’t know if I can wait that long.”

She rolled over in his arms. “I’ll take good care of you.”

“I could use a—”

“No fucking way,” she interrupted. “I only want to feel you inside me, not some piece of rubber or plastic.” She gave him a slow caress. “I can take care of you.”

He kissed her softly and pulled her hand away. “Not tonight. Tonight, I just want to hold you.” He paused. “Unless you want me to take care of you?”

She sighed. “No. Tomorrow. Just being held tonight sounds divine.”

They kissed and touched, their fingers trailing lightly over each other’s bodies, his skin crackling with her touch. She sighed again and rolled over, scooting back until his knees were tucked behind hers in a comfortable spoon, his chest against her back. He wrapped her up, cupping her breasts in his hands again. It seems so natural, so comfortable, so right, to hold her like this, he couldn’t imagine ever sleeping without being able to touch her. She pressed her ass back into his manhood, and they groaned as one as he pushed back.

“Fuck,” he murmured as they relaxed, the sensations roaring through him from their crush subsiding. “It’s going to be a long week.”

She wrapped her arms around his and held them tight. “You’re telling me,” she whispered.

The next morning, they were fed breakfast and whisked away to Lod Field outside Tel Aviv, the same field they’d landed at yesterday. They were placed aboard a United States Air Force C-17 Globemaster, the same type of plane that had ferried them to Orkut. The loadmaster helped them and the Griffins get strapped in.

“How was your debrief?” Dan asked as the plane’s engines began to spool up. Because they wore headsets, nobody answered because nobody knew who he was talking to. “I’m talking to you, Ed and Kelli.”

“Oh, sorry!” Ed replied. “Intense.”

“And a little scary,” Kelli added. “They kept us for hours. Worse, they said that was the short one. The main debrief will happen when we get home.”

Dan nodded. “Same for us. At least mine was over in about an hour.”

“About ninety minutes for me,” Tasha added.

“Loadmaster, secured for taxi?” a voice asked.

“Load secured. Ready for departure,” another voice replied.

“Ladies and gentlemen, we’ll begin taxing in a moment. Remain in your seats until Sergeant Westinkowski gives you the all clear. It’s a long flight, fifteen hours, but we’ll try to give you a smooth ride,” the first voice said.

Six hours into the flight, Dan nudged Tasha and nodded at the Griffins. They were nodding off again. Westinkowski had disappeared an hour ago, probably sitting somewhere catching a nap himself. If the loadmaster was busy during a flight, he and the flight crew were having a bad day. He unplugged his headset from the intercom and leaned over to Tasha and pulled one of her ear cups away from her ear.

“To bad about the fucking pills.”

She unplugged and took her headset off, so he did the same. The plane was loud but not deafening, easily tolerable for a short time. “Why?”

“We could join the ‘mile high’ club.”

She grinned. “I’m surprised you’re not part of it already.”

He shook his head with a grin. “Nope. Never had the opportunity.”

Her smile spread. “Want to?”

“Sure, maybe someday.”

“I mean now.”

“Now? What about—”

“I’m about to start my period,” she interrupted.

“How do you know?”

“Trust me. Women can tell.”

“So that means…”

She nodded. “That’s right. I’m safe…and horny.”

He watched her eyes a moment then tossed his headset aside and began unbuckling.