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The Retrieval... Ch. 01

By: loverofFUN



Author's Note: Hopefully y'all know by now that my stories tend to take a few pages to develop and get to the good stuff. With that in mind, this is a complete work of fiction - some of the general details might be loosely based on reality, but pretty much all of the government stuff, departments, titles, people, etc...are from my imagination so any errors, inconsistencies with the plot or missteps in general are no one's fault but my own. : P

And of course this story includes sexually explicit material and is intended for adults, so if you are not at least 18 years of age or are offended by sexual material, blah, blah, blah - you know the drill...for the rest of you, thank you for reading, I appreciate your feedback and please remember to vote. Enjoy!



Julia "Jules" Bradford glanced at her watch, sighed and then gently leaned her head back against the wall. 

She was ready to do just about anything to ease the throbbing headache she'd been battling ever since her alarm clock had gone off. She closed her eyes. Ugh. Nope, closing her eyes was not a good idea as her stomach let her know that yes, it was still in fact very nauseated. She sighed again...this was starting to look like it was going to be a long day. Trying to deal with a hangover in her own little cubicle sucked bad enough, but sitting in her boss's waiting room in one of these stupidly uncomfortable chairs for over thirty minutes? This was starting to feel like some new form of torture. 

Jules glanced over at her superior's administrative assistant who was busy typing on her computer. The woman had pretty much ignored her for the last half an hour. She would give Jules the occasional glance when she paused to answer her phone via one of those fancy headsets, but otherwise...nothing. Huh, Jules made a mental note as she continued to surreptitiously check her out. She'd never really noticed before that Atwood's assistant had that conservative, sexy librarian look going on. Jules waited until the woman glanced her way again and when she finally did, Jules flashed one of her patented "hey, since we're both sitting here, why don't we take a few moments to chat" smiles. 

The secretary didn't even crack a smile. She just politely ignored Jules and went back to typing. Jules shrugged to herself and sighed again. It's not like she was at the top of her game this morning anyway. A moment later the assistant's phone came to life with a slightly different sounding ring. The woman punched a button and listened to her headset for a moment before turning her attention to Jules. 

"Secretary Atwood will see you know."

Finally. Jules stood up and began to stretch, but had to put her hand on the wall to stave off a sudden bout of dizziness. She'd been sitting too long and she had consumed entirely too much alcohol over the weekend were the only two things she was absolutely sure of right at this moment. She steadied herself and then popped a breath mint in her mouth before pushing on the door that led into Atwood's office. Jules missed the disapproving little shake of the secretary's head.

As Jules entered the expanse of her boss' private sanctum, she tried not to grin. It never failed to amuse her that Henry Atwood seemed to have followed the blueprint for a government office right out of the DC handbook for government offices. There was the massive oak desk that was obviously the centerpiece of the room. On one side of that monstrosity stood the matching bookshelf with all of the appropriate American history volumes and autobiographies crammed onto the shelves. Above that was the obligatory framed American flag. On the opposite wall were various degrees, achievements and certificates perfectly hung in wooden frames that matched the rest of the furniture. And of course on the wall directly behind the man were about a dozen framed pictures of Homeland Security's Deputy Under-Secretary for Analysis Henry Atwood shaking hands with the President, the Homeland Director, foreign dignitaries, world leaders and any other VIP that was worthy of a photo op. 

"Have a seat, Jules," Atwood instructed as he hunted and pecked on a keyboard that sat off to the side. 

She sat down as instructed in one of the much more comfortable leather chairs facing Under-Secretary Atwood's desk. She took a deep, steadying breath and fought the urge to throw up in his trashcan. She mentally made a note that tequila was not her friend as she politely waited for him to finish typing whatever super-secret national security communication he was working on. Or he could have been updating his Facebook status for all she knew. Whatever, Jules concentrated on ignoring the feeling of nausea by studying the photos behind her boss's head. 

"So," Atwood turned away from the flat screen monitor and keyboard combo that sat on one side of his desk on a little pull out shelf and faced forward in his chair towards his employee. "How many times have I pulled your ass out of the fire, Jules?"

"Is it bad?" Jules winced.

"Yes, it is," Atwood confirmed with a solemn nod and then continued. "But I'm curious - do you actually know the number?"

"I guess I've never thought about it."

"Take a guess."

"Um," Jules tried to read his expression, "I'm going to go with...three?"

"It's six, Jules," Atwood said flatly. "I've come to your rescue and somehow figured out a way to salvage your career on six different occasions."

"Oh...wow..." Jules was literally surprised by the number. She really hadn't kept track. "Uh...I'm not exactly sure what the proper response would be at this moment, but I'm going to go with thank you. I mean, seriously, thank you, sir."

"I'm going to be honest," Atwood looked at her with a grave expression. "It probably won't be seven." 

"It won't?" Jules sat up straighter. "Am I being fired?"

"No, it isn't that simple," Atwood explained. "I did what I could, but...well, we'll get to that. But first I need to understand - what the fuck were you thinking?"

"I, uh, I can't honestly say that I was, sir," Jules admitted miserably and then grimaced as she stifled a burp and tasted tequila...this was definitely shaping up to be a long day.

"So you had no idea that she was the youngest daughter of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Logistics and Material Readiness?" Atwood was starting to show some irritation.

"The Assistant Secretary of...Defense for - what?"

"The Assistant Secretary of Defense for Logistics and Material Readiness," Atwood repeated.

"I can say in all truthfulness that I had no idea," Jules replied.

"Okay...I believe you. So let's set aside the fact that she's the daughter of somebody important from the Secretary of Defense's office," Atwood went on. "Were you aware that it was the night before her wedding? That she was at her bachelorette party?"

"I think I remember something about a party," Jules mumbled quietly as she studied her shoes. She probably shouldn't mention that the young woman had been wearing a sash that said 'I'm the Bride, bitches!' 

"Un-fucking-believable," Atwood laughed harshly, but there was no humor in it. "I swear, your reputation as a womanizer is not only well-deserved, but underestimated - and that's saying a lot in this town."

Given the current circumstances, Jules chose to remain silent on that particular topic of debate.

Atwood just sat there and looked at her.

"I...uh...I mean, in my defense, she came on to me." Jules offered hopefully. She vividly remembered the young blonde pinning her up against the bathroom wall and then being kissed by those incredibly luscious lips. That bride-to-be had been so ripe for a woman like Jules that she had been practically ready to burst. "Shouldn't that at least make a difference or something?"

"Not even a little," Atwood answered truthfully.

"Shit," Jules mumbled. "So...what happens now?"

"I did what I could," Atwood shrugged. "You know the drill - if we had a Siberia, you'd be headed there. I did manage to keep your banishment in house, so you'll still be technically working for Homeland."

"So I'm not fired?" Jules perked up just a little.

"You may wish you were," Atwood raised an eyebrow. "You've been assigned out into the field. You'll be working for the Logistics Group."

"What?" Jules couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Me?"

"I'm afraid so."

"But...why? I don't know the first thing about logistics."

"It's simple," Atwood continued. "He wants you to quit. It's the prick's way of getting around all the red tape and bullshit paper trail of building a case and firing you for something that happened while you were off duty on your own personal time."

"But that's not fair." Jules complained.

"Are you serious?" Atwood looked at her like she should have known how the game was played. "What did you expect, Julia? The Assistant Secretary of Defense for LMR's daughter cancelled her wedding...on the morning of her fucking wedding - because of you." 

"You can't blame me for that shit!" Jules replied defensively. How could this be her fault?

"There's a video, Jules," Atwood replied through clenched teeth, "of you and her on top of the bar and then she declares her undying love for you right into the camera."

"Someone took a video?" Jules asked quietly almost as if she were questioning herself.

"Of course someone took a video - it was a public bar," Atwood almost spat.

"I - " Jules began and then stopped. 

"As if that video wasn't bad enough," Atwood continued, "The next morning - which if you're taking notes was the morning of her wedding, the young lady locked herself in a bathroom and refused to come out while she hysterically called out your name over and over."

"She did that?" Jules winced. 

"Yes, she did," Atwood nodded. "And she never did come out. Hell, maybe she's still in there, I don't know and really don't care. But what I do know is that her father - her very important, very powerful father - lost over a hundred grand in non-refundable deposits alone not to mention the social and political scandal he's having to deal with."

"Oh," Jules replied miserably. "I didn't know. I'm sorry."

"Sorry?" Atwood barked that humorless laugh again. "You're lucky you didn't disappear in the middle of the night!"

"Like that was going to happen," Jules snorted and then caught herself and suddenly felt like she might throw up again when she realized that by the look on his face, Atwood might not be kidding. 

"As I said before," Atwood resumed in a calmer tone, "I did what I could. You've been assigned to the Retrieval Team. Those guys work alone, so you're basically in control of your own destiny."

"What the hell is the Retrieval Team?"

"They're tasked with a lot of different...assignments," Atwood seemed suddenly hesitant, but then caught himself and quickly continued. "But you will be delivering Congressional subpoenas and then escorting those individuals being called to testify back to DC."

"Just great...lucky me," Jules rubbed her temples and then realized how that must have sounded. "Shit, I'm sorry, Hank. I didn't mean that towards you. I really do appreciate you going to bat for me."

"Don't worry about it," her now former-boss replied gruffly, but then softened his tone. "Look, you're one of the best analysts I have. Besides, you know I went way back with your Dad. I promised him a long time ago that I'd always try to look out for you."

"I know," Jules nodded and the little crack in her heart that constantly reminded her of how much she missed her father hurt a little more than usual. "Thank you. I think Dad would agree that you've more than lived up to that promise."

"Well, I probably would have thought twice about making that promise if I'd have known how much of a challenge you'd be," Atwood tried to joke. Jules forced a polite smile and her boss knew it had been a mistake. "Look, just keep your head down and do your job."

"Okay."

"If you're successful on this first assignment, there's a chance that this thing might eventually blow over," Atwood offered hopefully. "Keep a low profile and I'll try to pull some strings and get you back over here in Analysis where you belong."

"Wow," Jules was shocked. "I haven't even reported for duty yet and I already have my first assignment?"

"That is correct," Atwood nodded grimly and grabbed a manila file folder off the corner of his desk and handed it to her. "Needless to say it was handpicked just for you."

"Perfect," Jules mumbled as she accepted her fate in the form of file folder. 

Yeah, this was going to be a very long day indeed.

****

Leah Hartsall kept her head down as she stood in the express lane of the grocery store, patiently waiting her turn. 

She had her money in hand so she could quickly pay for the three bottles of water, three cans of tuna and a pack of gum that were sitting in her basket. To the untrained eye she was just another shopper minding her own business, but a keener observer might have noticed the way her eyes constantly moved and assessed, gauging the position of everyone and everything around her. In fact Leah was acutely aware of the exact position of the other eleven shoppers who were also waiting to check out at the three open registers. More than just aware of them, Leah knew their exact positions and could have given a basic description of each one of them including their clothing, distinguishing features and what they had in their buggies. 

This high degree of situational awareness wasn't something Leah did intentionally - half the time she wasn't even completely aware that she was clocking exits or mentally marking the position of everyone and everything around her. It was just something she did. It was more than a habit, it was instinct that had been born from long months of grueling training and then etched into her DNA from years of real world experience. It was a way of life for her, but she didn't like to focus on it. Whenever her mind went down that path it was too easy to think about the details of the how, why and where she honed her skill-sets - and those were memories that she wasn't particularly fond of dwelling on.

At the next register Leah could overhear the cashier giving the woman she was waiting on another exaggerated sigh of frustration as the young mother tried to console the crying baby on her hip. The child couldn't have even been a year old yet and the woman would do her best to quiet the baby and then go back to counting out her change. It was the third dramatically passive-aggressive exhalation the cashier had unleashed to make sure this woman in front of her knew she was not happy with her for holding up the line. The only two items the young woman was trying to buy were Children's Tylenol and diapers. The young woman kept quietly apologizing to the cashier who wouldn't respond to her with anything more than an annoyed smack of her lips. 

Leah paid for her items and as she was receiving her change she heard the man who was next in line after the struggling mother say something derogatory about her under his breath. Leah turned her head slightly and out of the corner of her eye saw him share a knowing look of disgust with the irritated cashier. The young woman had been counting out change and dealing with the fussy infant ever since Leah had gotten in line. She had a pretty good hunch that it was going to be a financial stretch for the young mother to pay for her items. 

Leah grabbed her meager plastic bag of groceries and stepped away from her check-out lane. She turned towards the far entrance where she had parked her truck, took two steps and suddenly bent over to touch the floor near the young woman's feet. Leah smoothly stood back up, stopping briefly to place a twenty dollar bill in front of the woman. Leah nodded once as she resumed walking and said, "Sorry ma'am, you must have dropped this."

"I don't think that's-- " the young woman began to respond but stopped when she saw that the athletic looking stranger wasn't going to wait around to debate the issue. 

"Yes, I believe it is," Leah called over her shoulder and didn't even pause as she walked towards the exit. 

The young woman paid for her items and had every intention of thanking the stranger, but by the time she got out to the parking lot, the tall woman was nowhere to be found.

****

"Hank, they can't be serious," Jules was on her cellphone pacing back in forth in her kitchen. "Did you even read this file?"

"I did," Atwood replied calmly into his phone. "Keep in mind that I really didn't have much say in the matter."

"This woman is a trained killer, Hank!" Jules raised her voice. She didn't feel like anyone was listening to her. "Hello? Did you hear me? She's a fucking assassin!" 

"No, she isn't, Jules," Atwood kept his tone firm and quiet. "You know as well as I do that per Executive Order 11905, no employee of the United States shall engage in, or conspire to engage in, political assassination. By policy this country doesn't condone nor employ assassins."

"Oh, we both know that's utter bullshit," Jules stopped pacing.

"And we both know this is an unsecured line!" Atwood shot back angrily. She could hear him clear his throat and regain control over his breathing before he continued. "Your assignment is to retrieve a former covert operator. I stress the word former. Yes, she worked on the dark side for a long time, but she's been out for over a year. She's a civilian now."

"Civilian my ass," Jules mumbled to herself as she stared down at the open file on her kitchen table. "So if she's so former this and former that, why exactly am I bringing her back in?"

"She has to testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee," Atwood explained. "If I'm not mistaken, it states that in the details of the assignment, does it not?"

"Why yes, yes it does," Jules confirmed. "But what doesn't it say?"

"Excuse me?" 

"What isn't in the file that I need to know, Hank?"

"I don't know what you're talking about, Jules."

"Hank," Jules paused and let her voice grow quieter. "Please?"

"Hypothetically," Atwood sighed heavily. "And I do mean hypothetically, Jules...a certain former covert operative might be subpoenaed to testify if, hypothetically, that testimony might be crucial if it were to dispute the hypothetical testimony of this hypothetical operative's hypothetical former team leader regarding the collateral damage of civilians. That is if such a former operator hypothetically existed."

"Does she even --"

"Jules," Atwood sternly warned. 

"Sorry...does this hypothetical operator know what he or she is hypothetically testifying about?"

"Doesn't matter as in that's not your concern. Retrieval only - you're basically just her ride back to DC," Atwood replied dismissively dropping the charade. "I have to go, Jules. Goodbye."

"That's just perfect," Jules laughed as the Deputy Under-Secretary for Analysis disconnected the call. She paused to blow an auburn curl out of her eyes and looked down at the file again. 

She started chewing on her thumb nail as she stared at the picture of the blonde woman she was supposed to bring back to DC.

****

Leah was in her zone as she pulled her last order of the day. 

She saw the 10 digit part number on the pick-sheet, visualized where it was on the shelf and then she'd automatically go to that aisle, pull the requisite number of parts and box them up for the customer. She went about finding each line item deliberately and methodically, letting her mind focus on the task rather than think about anything else. She liked it when she didn't have to think too much and she was able to let the part numbers consume her thoughts. Leah found the repetitiveness and physicality of it soothing. She wasn't the fastest order puller, but somehow she managed to consistently pull more orders day in and day out than almost all of her coworkers. The old adage of "slow is smooth, smooth is fast" served her well doing this detail-oriented job.


The Retrieval... Ch. 01



It was blazing hot outside even this late in the afternoon which was typical for North Carolina this time of year. Inside the stuffy warehouse it was at least ten degrees hotter. She had shed the light-weight, long sleeved shirt she wore over her sleeveless t-shirt hours ago once the heat began to build and sweat had started to soak through it. Now at the end of the day after almost 9 hours in this oven she could literally have wrung a puddle of water out of her shirt and sports bra. Leah didn't mind it all that much. It was honest work, it gave her a chance to burn off some of her physical energy and everyone she worked with pretty much left her alone. The novelty of being the lone female warehouse worker had worn off months ago, so now she was just another employee. She liked the anonymity.

She finished off the second pallet of the order and then double-checked her work to make sure she hadn't missed any of the part numbers that this customer had ordered. As usual, her order was 100% correct. Yep, slow is smooth, smooth is fast. Leah used a pallet jack to pull it around to the staging area and dropped it with the first pallet of the order. She proceeded to wrap both skids in shrink-wrap and marked them with the customer's name and 1-of-2 and 2-of-2 accordingly for the driver. 

She put her paperwork in the tray on the shipping desk and gave her supervisor a questioningly look. He nodded at her and gestured towards the time clock. Leah walked over and went through the process of punching out and then stepped inside to the front office area. She stood inside the door for a minute to soak in the almost artic chill of air conditioning. Just as she was about to head for the break room to grab her backpack and lunch box, she made note of one of the company's drivers who was standing too close to the desk of the last biller on duty this late in the day. All of the schedulers and billers worked staggered shifts to make sure they could cover all of their customers without incurring overtime. The driver seemed to be talking to her quietly as she concentrated on entering an order into the system so that it would generate a pick list. 

Leah's instincts kicked in and the little hairs on the back of her neck stood up. She had no idea what the large, burly driver might be saying, but in just the few seconds she was able to observe the interaction she could tell by the woman's body language that the biller was uncomfortable. Her posture was hunched, tense. She was also slightly leaning away in her seat from where the driver was standing. Leah could also tell by the driver's furtive mannerisms that he more than likely wasn't discussing company business.

Leah tried to remind herself that it wasn't any of her business as she turned and went on through the swinging door to the break room. She grabbed her little cooler from the fridge and stuck it in her backpack. As she shrugged the pack onto her shoulders, she returned a few polite hellos with a nod from a couple of guys who worked on the second shift and then headed back out. She paused as she was about to turn right and go back out into the warehouse. The driver was now sitting on the corner of the biller's desk, crowding in on her personal space so that the woman actually had to lean to the side to try and type.

Leah just stood there, mentally going through the arguments. Low profile, remember? Don't get involved; don't draw attention to yourself...remember? You like it here, so don't blow it by getting involved. She heard the billing clerk politely ask the driver to please stop, she was trying to work. Leah sighed heavily. The one thing in this world that Leah hated with every fiber of her being was a bully...especially a bully that targeted a woman. 

She turned left and walked slowly towards the biller's desk, trying to remember the woman's name. They had never been formally introduced, but she remembered coming in the front entrance on her first day on the job...and as she had passed by the biller's work station she remembered there was a name plate on the woman's desk. Cheryl? No, it was Sheri with one r and an "i".

"Excuse me, Sheri?" Leah's quiet voice interrupted the driver just as he was leaning over to try and whisper something in the woman's ear.

"Yes!" Sheri said a little too quickly as she stood up and turned around. She took a full step away from her desk to create some space between herself and the driver. The driver grunted and cast a glance over his shoulder to give Leah a dirty look. 

"What can I help you with - it's Lisa, isn't it?"

"Leah," Leah corrected her and realized now why she had remembered the name plate. Sheri was a very attractive woman. "Uh, can you double check that last order I pulled for Parsons? I think there was a bad part number on it."

"Of course," Sheri smiled up at the quiet woman from the warehouse. She then looked at the driver sternly. "Excuse us, please."

"No problem, Cherry," the driver laughed at his own joke and stood up. He smiled at the billing clerk and then gave Leah another scowl before telling no one in particular, "I'm off to Asheville. Catch y'all tomorrow." 

The two women stood by the short filing cabinets next to Sheri's desk and watched the driver leave through the warehouse exit. Leah folded her muscular arms across her chest and stared at the door while Sheri rifled through copies of the day's orders. She finally pulled the office copy of the pick list from all of the other papers and turned to Leah. "Is this the order?"

Leah glanced at it and nodded her head. She turned her gaze from the warehouse door and looked down at Sheri's expectant face, making an effort not to let her eyes move further down to the woman's fitted top that accentuated a pair of very nice breasts. Sheri just stared up into Leah's eyes and then smiled. Leah knew that most people thought her blue eyes were rather striking. 

"Um," Leah nervously cleared her throat. "I, uh, I think I was mistaken, so...never mind, sorry for bothering you."

Leah was half way to the warehouse door before Sheri spoke up. "Thank you. Leah."

Leah stopped with her hand on the warehouse door. She didn't turn around. She simply nodded once in an unspoken acknowledgement and then pushed on the door and disappeared into the hot, noisy environment of the warehouse.

****

Jules stopped by her new supervisor's office to formally introduce herself. The Retrieval Team fell under the umbrella of Homeland Security's Logistics Branch, so at least she wouldn't have to move or find new housing since the office was located right here in DC. After wandering around the building for twenty minutes, she finally managed to find the suite of offices her new department operated out of. 

She was actually kind of relieved that her new boss wasn't in, but his administrative assistant had been expecting her. The older woman gave Jules a package containing all kinds of forms that needed to be filled out. After explaining what each form was for and how to complete it, she went on to present Jules with the official file for her first assignment. Of course Hank had already given her a copy of the file, so there was nothing in the original that she hadn't seen before with the exception being a voucher for the use of a government issued vehicle.

Jules asked the assistant about it and was dutifully informed that the logistics for any assignment that fell within 400 travel miles was taken care of by automobile rather than airline. The assistant proceeded to point out that the distance from DC to Charlotte, NC was 396 miles. The older woman instructed her that she could pick up her assigned vehicle from the Logistics Car Pool and if Jules was going to keep to the assignment's schedule, she would need to get on the road within the next two hours.

Jules tried to keep reminding herself that she was being "punished", so she wasn't too surprised when they gave her a set of keys to an older model Crown Victoria. Seriously? She thought they quit making these a couple of years ago. With a shrug, Jules went about adjusting the seat and mirrors and then tried the radio, but it didn't work. Awesome, just what a girl needed for an eight hour road trip. Then as she pulled out of the lot she also found out the air conditioning didn't really work other than blowing warm air in her face. She shrugged and rolled all of the windows down. 

She smiled to herself as she slipped on her sunglasses and the wind began to blow her auburn locks everywhere. Jules paused a moment to consider how in the hell she had even ended up in this situation and instead, ended up savoring the memory of lying on that bar with the crowd cheering as that bride-to-be lowered that gorgeous shaved pussy down onto her waiting mouth. Jules could almost still feel how strongly those former cheerleader thighs had gripped the sides of her head as the girl sat on her face and took the ride of her young life. Had it been worth it? At the time, you bet your ass it had been worth it. Now? Well, Jules would just have to play this one out and see. 

Either way, these vindictive bastards were going to have to do a lot better than sticking her with a crappy car to get Jules Bradford to quit. 

****

Leah slowed down to a jog as she came to the last little stretch of road that in a quarter of a mile led to the employees' parking lot. She continued to slow down until she was half a block away and began walking as part of her cool down. When the weather warmed up she liked to run the almost five miles to work and then she would either run home or take the bus if she was too tired after her shift. When she reached the actual drive of the parking lot, she shrugged off her backpack and bent over with her hands on her knees to get control of her breathing. She had really pushed herself this morning running 4.9 miles in just over 30 minutes. She stood back up and pulled a refillable water bottle out of her bag and drank half of it down in one long drink. 

She walked around for a few minutes with her hands on her hips, stopping to take a sip of water every few minutes until her heart rate was back to normal and she had cooled down enough to head towards the warehouse entrance. As per her normal routine, she would grab a quick shower in the employee locker room before her shift started and then relax for a few minutes with a cup coffee. She had just rounded the corner at the far edge of the parking lot when she saw the same driver from yesterday. 

Leah apparently spotted him well before he intended for her to see him. He actually looked pretty ridiculous as he tried to maintain his somewhat hidden position by the trash compactor. With his chain-wallet and key chain combo jangling from his nervous movements and the way his cowboy boots scraped against the pavement as he shifted from foot to foot, a toddler would have noticed him from thirty yards out. Leah shook her head. This jackass didn't have the first clue about being still and fading into his environment.

Leah stopped ten feet short of where she thought the driver figured was going to be his element of surprise opportunity. She set her backpack down at her feet and bent over to begin stretching her legs as she patiently waited, taking the occasional sip of her water bottle. It took the driver another sixty seconds before he leaned out to check on her progress and was startled to see her there stretching her hamstrings. 

He scowled to himself as he stepped out into the open, but then a grin broke out on his face that didn't quite reach his eyes. "Well, ain't you about as quiet as a mouse."

Leah said nothing as she stretched.

"C'mon now, don't be rude," the driver warned her in a friendly - not so friendly way. "It ain't polite not to return a good morning."

"You didn't say good morning," Leah quietly corrected him and took another drink of water.

"Pardon?"

She let out an almost imperceptible sigh before continuing in a clear voice. "You didn't say good morning. You said 'well, ain't you about as quiet as a mouse' to which I chose not to respond. You're attempting to goad me into some half-assed apology for an imagined slight. I'm really not in the mood for whatever little psychological game you're trying to play."

"Look at you then, catching all that like you did," the driver stepped out into the middle of the walkway effectively blocking her way as he gave a low whistle. "I am impressed."

"I literally don't care whether or not you might be impressed," Leah replied evenly. She picked up her backpack and closed the distance between them until she was standing right in front him. The man was only an inch or two taller, but easily outweighed her by at least a hundred pounds. "Now please excuse me."

"I believe you and I need to come to an understanding," the driver smiled as he eased forward and rested his beefy hand on top of Leah's shoulder and took a half-step into her personal space.

Leah looked at the hand on her shoulder and fought to keep control of her breathing. "Why are you touching me?"

"Oh, c'mon now darlin', I'm just being --" the larger man began to explain as he took another step closer and started to slip his arm around Leah's shoulders. He suddenly found himself being propelled face first into the side of the trash compactor with his arm pushed painfully up behind his back. He was stunned into silence and his lips were wet with blood from the impact.

"What the hell!" the driver finally managed to roar as he fought to regain his balance and push off of the dumpster. For some reason he couldn't get control of his balance or the arm behind his back. 

"Don't ever put your hands on me again," Leah said quietly into his ear before letting go of his arm and taking a few steps back.

"You crazy bitch!" he wheeled around on her and shook his arm out a few times to try and get his shoulder to stop hurting. "You have no fuckin' idea what you just started."

Leah didn't respond as she just stood there silently looking at him.

He was breathing hard and his face was mottled red. Leah recognized the first physical signs of the adrenaline dumping into his system. The driver clenched and unclenched his fists at his sides. "I tried to be reasonable, but --"

"You sure about this?" Leah asked in a calm voice. She didn't give any ground as the driver took another step towards her.

"Oh, I'm damn sure," the driver nodded and spit a stream of blood and spittle at his feet. The man's voice was loud and his hands were shaking. "You wanna act like a man, you're gonna get treated like a damn man!"

"You realize there's no going back, right?" Leah asked him in a steady voice.

"Huh?" the big man pulled up short unsure of what he was hearing. "What's that?"

"Think about it," Leah explained. "You're overly hyped up right now from the adrenaline which is normal. The only thing hurt so far is your pride. No one was here to see this...no one has to know about it. I'm not going to mention it. Are you?"

"Nah, too late for that," he growled and took another step towards her. "You fuckin' cunt,"

"Whatever," Leah shrugged. "Can't say I didn't warn you."

"What?" He pulled up short again almost stumbling from his momentum. "You? You are warning me?"

"I'm giving you a chance here," Leah eased her feet a little wider apart and let her arms hang down loosely in front of her body. "This isn't some beef at your local bar or some truck stop bullshit. I can guarantee this isn't going to go like you planned."

"Are you listening to yourself?" he demanded, trying to make it sound as ridiculous to her as it did to him. "What are you gonna do? Huh? You gonna whup my ass?"

"No, I'm not gonna whup your ass," Leah shook her head and kept her voice calm and steady. "I'm going to put you in the fucking hospital."

"The hospital?"

Leah shrugged one shoulder and gave a single nod of her head.

"You really think so, do you?"

"Nope," Leah shook her head. "I know it for a fact."

"Bull-fucking-shit," the scowl on the driver's face grew even deeper and his nostrils flared. "Bitch, I'll put my fuckin' hands on you like you ain't--"

"Do you honestly think I haven't dealt with guys like you before?" Leah raised her voice to interrupt him with just the hint of a smile at the corner of her mouth. "Do you really think this is a first for me? I'm trying to be nice here because you think you know what road you're about to go down. Trust me - you don't."

"Is that right?"

"Yeah, that's right," Leah nodded. "But I really don't want this. That's why I'm asking you to just walk away."

The heavyset driver grinned at her like she was making a joke, but then his grin faded and his expression slowly morphed into one of suspicion. He looked around as he rubbed his jaw and considered what this gash was saying. She has to be trying to run some kind of game. Yeah, she's just bluffing, stalling for time. Isn't she? Fuck it, what's the worst that could happen? It's her word against his. She's just some dock chick for crying out loud. He's worked for this company for fourteen years.

"Just let it go," Leah looked hard into his eyes, "and walk away."

"Shit," he suddenly smiled, becoming the all-too-friendly good ol' boy. "I was just foolin' around anyways. You know, just givin' you a hard time." 

Leah didn't move or say anything.

"C'mon now," the man smiled and extended his arm towards her. "No hard feelings?"

Leah looked at the offered hand. She looked back up into the man's eyes and then slowly brought her hand up as if to shake even though she knew what would happen next.

The driver telegraphed his sucker punch from what felt like a mile away.

****

Leah had just finished pulling the last part number and was stacking the box neatly on the pallet to complete her first order of the day when she caught movement over by the first dock door, the one with the walk-up ramp. It was used for customers who came to the warehouse to pick up their orders rather than have them delivered. Leah took a deep breath and let it out slowly as she watched from the corner of her eye as two police officers paused at the top of the ramp and then walked over and began talking to the warehouse manager. Her supervisor went from inquisitively friendly to frowning and crossing his arms and then he became animated and began shaking his head and gesturing in Leah's direction. 

Leah sighed again. She knew that a couple of the driver's buddies had found him unconscious and bleeding. They thought he had either fallen off the dock or been run over. She had sipped on her coffee and watched everyone run around in a panic until the dispatcher had finally ended up taking the injured man to the hospital. Leah knew it was only a matter of time before the driver eventually regained consciousness and started running his mouth. 

Leah laid her paperwork with all of the part numbers neatly checked off on top of the skid so that whoever the warehouse manager chose to take over her assignment would know the order was complete. She picked up her long sleeved t-shirt and slipped it on and then grabbed her backpack which she had kept with her rather than putting it in her locker since she already knew this was going to happen at some point this morning. She paused to take a final look around the warehouse. This wasn't her first job nor would it be her last, but she had actually liked it here. 

The other workers had started to come out from the aisles and shelves of inventory to gawk and whisper among themselves. What a day, first the unconscious driver and now this? Having the cops show up was not an everyday occurrence. Their whispers grew quieter as they watched Leah gather up her things and walk slowly over to the where the warehouse manager and the police officers were still talking. They all wondered what the heck was going on and by this time word had spread to the front office so now the billing clerks and schedulers had started gathering outside of the door to the office watching and whispering as well. 




The Retrieval... Ch. 01



They continued to observe as Leah approached the little huddle. The warehouse manager paused when he noticed Leah and went through the process of introducing her to the police officers. The cops focused all of their attention on her as they took turns asking her questions. Leah said a few things and nodded a few times and then handed over her backpack to the male cop. She turned around as the female police officer pulled out her handcuffs and began the process of pulling Leah's arms behind her back and cuffing her wrists together. 

Leah looked over at the entrance to the office as the cop went through the process of reciting her Miranda rights. She saw the woman named Sheri standing off to the side of the other office workers. She wasn't participating in all of the whispering, she just stood there looking at Leah with real concern in her eyes. Leah just gave her a little half-smile and the slightest shrug of her shoulders as if to say "shit happens."

As they escorted Leah back down the ramp towards their cruiser, she took a little bit of comfort in knowing that the asshole driver wouldn't be bothering Sheri again for a long, long time. 

****

Jules rolled over with a small groan at the incessant beeping of what she thought was the alarm on her phone and tried to pry her swollen eyelids open. She blindly felt around until she apparently hit the right button to silence the offending technology. She groaned a second time as she rolled back over and the first wave of pain indicating another wicked hangover began to settle over her head and stomach. She fought the feeling of nausea that seemed to be one of her constant companions in the morning these days. She winced as she gently nestled her head deeper into the hotel room pillow in search of that magical cool spot that would alleviate the throbbing in her head. 

Okay, Jules reasoned with herself...So maybe it is time to cut down on the drinking a little bit. You think? The little voice in her head responded sarcastically. You act like you can just pick up a new liver at Walmart.

Whatever, Jules mentally responded to the little voice. It's not like I'm an alcoholic or anything. Tell you what, the little voice countered. I'll bet you a week of sobriety, and that means absolutely no liquor in any form, that you don't even remember her name. 

What the fuck? Jules eyes shot open as her senses cleared a bit more and she felt the unmistakable soft roundness of an ass cheek pressing against her hip. She gingerly turned her head to look at the little tangle of brunette curls that were peeking out from beneath the comforter on the pillow next to her. 

She racked her brain trying to remember what all had transpired last night. The only thing she could pull out of those murky depths of tequila soaked memories was something about a bartender. As Jules tried to piece together the details of last night's activities, she more out of habit than anything else reached down and rested her palm on the plump ass cheek. This apparently was enough to awaken the beast as the body next to her stirred and then rolled over and turned into her. 

"Morning, Jules," a sleepy smile appeared through the jungle of unruly bedhead and what was meant to be an affectionate gesture had Jules seriously fighting not to throw up right then and there. That simple greeting had blown a cloud of foul, alcohol tinged morning breath right into Jules's face. 

Jules held her breath and mumbled good morning as she discreetly turned her head. The brunette smiled and took this as an invitation as she leaned over a little further and feathered kisses along Jules's neck. Jules kept her head turned to the side in case her bedmate moved up for a kiss, but her tension eased a little as the woman continued kissing down to her collarbone and then teased wet kisses all around the tops of her large breasts. Jules sighed as the brunette kept on kissing and licking her way down Jules's stomach until her trail of kisses brought her to the inside of Jules's thigh. 

Jules started to actually relax and leaned further back onto the pillows of the hotel bed as the brunette stuck out her tongue and traced it along the crease of Jules's groin next to her pussy where her upper leg ended and her torso began. Okay, so this wasn't so bad, Jules thought and let out a soft sigh as the woman continued licking her way over until she was running that long, soft tongue up and down Jules's labia. When that tongue moved in and parted Jules's slit to take a long lick of her now swollen inner folds, Jules closed her eyes with a murmured moan and her hangover was suddenly not so bad.

The brunette had just moved up to let her tongue gently touch Jules's clit when Jules's cell phone began beeping and vibrating again. The rhythm of the beeping made her realize in a panic that it was the ringer not her alarm. She struggled to reach the phone and push the eager head away from her pussy at the same time until she finally managed to grab it off the night stand and answer it. 

"Hello?" she replied breathlessly.

"Code in." A professional sounding voice greeted her bluntly. 

"Excuse me?"

"Code in, please."

"Shit," she cursed under her breath as she closed her eyes and tried to remember her employee assigned pin number for this assignment. It took her a few seconds, but it finally came to her and she rattled off the correct series of digits and numbers and then had to repeat herself more clearly. 

"Hold one," the voice announced as it verified her information. The brunette bartender had sat up when they were interrupted and now ventured closer as Jules waited on hold. She leaned over and started flicking her tongue back and forth across Jules's now erect nipple. Jules closed her eyes to enjoy the pleasant sensation radiating from her breast and then was pulled back into reality by the suddenly too loud voice of a professional sounding male in her ear. 

"We have an update to your assignment, Bradford." The man announced and proceeded to fill her in on the current status and location of one Leah Hartsall. The man then started to repeat himself and Jules struggled to focus through the fog of her headache and her bedmate's effort on her tit that at this point was becoming more annoying than arousing. Jules rudely pushed the woman's head away again as she moved her lips silently, repeating the information back to herself to commit it to memory. 

"Okay, thank you," Jules replied into her phone but the call had already been disconnected. Jules put her phone back on the side table and then looked over at the woman next to her. The brunette was now sitting up with her knees drawn up to her chest and was staring out the window through the little part in the curtains, her feelings obviously hurt. Jules took a deep breath. "Hey, sorry about that...it was work and kind of important."

"Whatever, its fine," the brunette sniffled and proceeded to wipe her nose on the sheet. "I understand."

Jules cringed a little, but then reminded herself she'd be checking out shortly anyways. These sheets were housekeeping's problem now. She reached out a hand to affectionately stroke the tanned skin on the part of the woman's lower back that wasn't covered by the sheet. A name suddenly floated across Jules's brain and she mentally stuck her tongue out at the little voice in her head. "Come here...Anna...let me make it up to you."

The brunette abruptly stood up and Jules's breath caught as she got her first really unobstructed view of her bedmate. Wow. This girl was hot. She had long, toned legs that flared into wide hips and an almost perfect upside down heart-shaped ass. Jules could also see as the woman bent over to look under the bed that her breasts weren't huge but looked quite nice and perky with long nipples sticking out proudly. Mmmm, but those legs and that ass...very nice, Jules thought. She also really liked the all over tan and that mop of long, curly black hair. Jules's overall impression was this woman seemed just built to fuck. No wonder she had ended up in bed with her last night.

Jules could feel her pussy start to tingle as the remnants of her hangover officially moved into the background. She smiled and lowered the sheet to expose her ample chest. The smile on Jules's face faltered as the woman straightened back up with an armful of her clothes and headed towards the hotel room door without bothering to get dressed.

"My name is Sonya, not Anna," she practically hissed before slamming the door. From out in the hallway Jules could hear the brunette yell, "Asshole!" 

Uh-huh...the little voice in her head reminded her. So that would be seven alcohol-free days starting right about now then?

****

After two hours of flashing her Homeland Security credentials and showing the Federal subpoena to enough people, Jules was finally allowed to escort Leah Hartsall out of the containment area of the police station. Getting through enough bureaucratic red-tape bullshit to drown in had done nothing to ease her aching head. They made one final stop by the sergeant's desk so Jules could sign off on some final forms stating that she was now fully responsible for Leah Hartsall and transporting her to the Senate building in the District of Columbia, blah, blah, blah...She had her copies of everything and would read them later. Right now, she just wanted to get back on the road and be done with this whole trip.

Jules stole some glances at her charge as they walked down the final corridor towards the lobby of the police station. The first thing Jules had noticed when Leah Hartsall was sitting on that concrete bench in the holding cell was the woman's eyes. They were such a vivid blue color that it was almost unnerving. That and the woman had a nice looking face. Even with no make-up, she was very, very pretty. But now that they were walking side by side, this person was actually quite intimidating close up. She was tall, taller than Jules by at least 4 or 5 inches. The woman's baggy, wrinkled t-shirt didn't do a whole lot to hide the fact that she was also really well built like on the verge of professional athlete level built. Jules hadn't met many women with shoulders as broad as Leah's or whose arms looked that strong even when they were cuffed in front of her. Damn, so far this chick's physical presence was living right up to the scary stereotype that had been in Jules's head from the moment she had read Leah Hartsall's file. 

Jules held the front entrance open so Leah could step outside ahead of her. The tall blonde paused a moment to squint against the bright sun and held her manacled hands up for some relief. Jules followed her out and after putting on her sunglasses just kind of stood there watching Leah, not really sure what she was supposed to say. Jules noticed that Leah's eyes were never still, constantly moving all around their surroundings as if she was taking everything in. Jules politely stepped aside as a couple of uniformed officers passed them by and started digging around in her purse looking for the keys to her government issued shit-mobile. Leah put her hands in front of Jules's face and rattled the handcuffs.

"Would you mind taking these off, please?"

"Why should I?" Jules tried to sound tough in effort to take control of the situation. 

Leah sighed and shrugged. "How about because they're uncomfortable?" 

"We'll see once we're on the road," Jules snapped as she finally produced the keychain from her bag. Her head moved around as she tried to remember where she had parked. 

"What's the big deal?" Leah asked as they walked down the steps. "Are you trying to prove a point?"

"I don't have anything to prove to you," Jules informed her as she tried to remember if she had approached the police station from the left or right. She had been distracted and the only thing she could remember was how ridiculously far she had had to walk to get to the main entrance. She stopped at the bottom of the steps and looked left and then looked right.

"Don't worry," Leah quietly chuckled as she misinterpreted Jules motions. "They're still here."

"What?" Jules stopped and looked at her. "Who's still here?"

"You're team," Leah rolled her eyes at the Fed's innocent act. "Matter of fact, you might want to tell them not to be so obvious next time."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Jules was now suspicious that this woman was trying to set her up and divert her attention somehow.

"Just stop," Leah shook her head. "The whole naïve, inexperienced thing is getting old. Trust me, I've seen them all done before, more times than you can imagine. You weren't half bad up until we stepped outside and your boys practically tripped over us."

"What?" Jules was trying to decipher what this woman was saying and none of it was making any sense. "Are you trying to set me up or something?"

"Seriously," Leah acted like she was growing annoyed now. "Just stop, okay? You can turn it off now."

"Listen up," Jules reached into her purse and put her hand on the grip of her weapon. "I don't understand what you're saying and I don't like it. You're starting to make me nervous."

"Hey, take it easy," Leah knew exactly what Jules was doing and held her manacled hands up in front of her in a gesture of submission to placate the Fed. "Not a big deal, okay? I was just making an observation."

"Well, I don't like it," Jules voice had gone to a slightly higher pitch and for a second she tightened her grip on her standard issue Sig Sauer P229. It didn't matter that Jules had never fired it outside of the Academy shooting range. Or that she literally had to dig around in her closet for over forty-five minutes to even find it before this trip. For some reason, it made her feel just a bit more secure right now. "Explain yourself."

"Okay," Leah still held her hands out in a non-threatening gesture. She had quickly picked up on the fact that the Fed's anxiety and uncertainty were genuine. "Just take it easy, alright? I was mistaken, no big deal."

"Mistaken about what?" Jules's voice was still tense, but her posture relaxed a bit. "What are you talking about?"

"I just noticed your support team seemed a little closer than they probably should have been," Leah's voice was calm and soothing and she let her hands fall back to rest in front of her. "Not a big deal. I'm just used to a more covert approach, that's all."

Jules frowned and looked around as if she would be able to know what in the world Leah might be referencing. She actually surprised herself when she noticed the blacked out Chevy Suburban sitting half a block away. Was that what this woman was talking about? She could just make out the silhouette of the driver, but that was about it. "Are you talking about that Chevy?"

"Yeah," Leah smiled to herself. Could this Fed be any more obvious? "That's the one."

Jules stood and stared at the vehicle. The more she looked at it the more she began to realize that this scary woman was sort of right. It really didn't fit in among all these other civilian cars and trucks. The Suburban suddenly pulled out with a squeal of tires, hung a quick U-turn and accelerated rapidly in the opposite direction of the station. Okay, that was weird.

"Subtle." Leah looked in the direction of the retreating SUV. 

"You're mistaken," Jules looked at her with a scowl. "I don't have any back-up."

Leah turned and looked back in the direction the Chevy had gone. "Not anymore."

"That's not what I meant," Jules slowly blinked and pursed her lips. "I just got transferred to this job. There is no back-up. We work alone on these assignments."

"Maybe that's what you were told," Leah shrugged. "Maybe you just don't know you have babysitters."

"No," Jules shook her head and suddenly remembered where she parked. She took a couple of steps down the sidewalk that ran in front of the station and then turned right down another sidewalk towards the back parking lot. She stopped and turned around and waited for Leah Hartsall to follow her. "That's not the...that doesn't fit my current situation."

"Okay, whatever," Leah shrugged again, but her situational awareness was now on high alert as she kept casually swiveling her head to keep an eye on traffic and the nearby pedestrians. She was now pretty well convinced that it wasn't an act as everything about this Fed told Leah the woman was inexperienced. 

They followed the walkway that ran beside the station to the rear parking lot and Jules raised her hand up to point it at the Crown Victoria to unlock it with the remote fob. Most of these older models didn't have that feature, but this one had been retro-fitted. The headlights seemed to blink a couple of more times than they normally did and the security chirp sounded funny.

"Down!" Leah growled and as soon as she said it Jules felt herself being tackled to the pavement from behind. She felt a sharp pain near her elbow and then in her hip which took the brunt of the fall, but Jules was more concerned with getting to her purse to make sure this woman didn't get to her service weapon. Jules struggled to wriggle away from Leah's body, but the woman stayed on top of Jules without much effort and shielded her with those muscular arms. 

"Get the hell off --," Jules was trying to say when she felt the heat and managed to look up. It wasn't like the movies where the car went up in a huge explosion. There actually hadn't been any real noise at all other than a kind of hushed whooshing sound. She couldn't do anything but stare as both the driver and passenger sides of her Crown Vic were engulfed in flames. Was this real? How could this be real? The fire was consuming the interior of the vehicle. 

"What is that?" Jules was stunned and went kind of limp as she stared. "That's...That's my car."

Leah's weight was suddenly off of her and then she was dragging Jules to a standing position by grabbing her under her arms. Of all the incomprehensible details she was trying to take in, of all the overwhelming stimuli around her that was so utterly foreign and out of her comfort zone, the fact that the woman was no longer handcuffed caught Jules's attention first. 

"Where..." She looked at Leah dumbfounded as the woman started to pull her in the opposite direction of the burning car. "Where are your handcuffs?" 

"Here," Leah stuffed the handcuffs into Jules's palm as she kept walking and dragged the Fed with her by the arm. The woman acted very calm, but also moved very purposefully as she led Jules back towards the front of the police station but suddenly took a short cut across another adjacent parking lot and then cut through a small park area with grass and trees until before Jules realized what was happening, they were stopped in a crowded little alcove type of an alley at least a full block from the police station. 

Jules looked around at the dumpsters and recycle bins. "That was...what was that?"

"Someone rigged your car."

"They...what?" Jules couldn't understand what this Leah Hartsell person was saying. "Rigged my car? How? Why? Are you sure that wasn't some kind of leak or something?"

"Uh, no," Leah smirked. "That was very intentional."

"It was? I guess...wait, if it was intentional, wouldn't there have been I don't know...a boom or something?" Jules asked suspiciously, but jumped when a loud, muffled whump shook the dumpsters and the nearby trees. Plumes of thick black smoke appeared in the sky coming from the direction of the parking lot they had just left.

"Fuel tank," Leah explained as she looked around the corner from their little hideout. 

All this excitement was overwhelming and caused Jules's hands to shake and she suddenly felt really dizzy so she bent over and tried to take deep breaths. When she stood up she began to say, "We have to go back--"




The Retrieval... Ch. 01



Leah Hartsall was gone.

"Oh no...no, no, no," Jules began to mutter rapidly under her breath as she quickly walked to the corner of the little alley. Jules came to an abrupt halt as she almost ran face first into her assignment. Leah's hand planted solidly on her chest had prevented the collision. 

"Calm down," Leah advised and guided the Fed gently back into the alcove by the dumpsters. "Coming down off adrenaline can be bitch, so just keep breathing...nice and easy."

"Okay," Jules said shakily. She could hear the wail of sirens off in the distance but they were getting louder.

Leah turned her head so she could continue to watch the street, but paused to check on the Fed for a moment and seemed almost embarrassed as she quickly took her hand off of the redhead's upper chest. Jules hadn't noticed where Leah's hand was either, but the tall blonde's obvious embarrassment actually made her smile a little despite their circumstances. 

Jules smile quickly faded and she looked nervously up at the taller woman. "I thought you left me."

"I know," Leah nodded once as she continued to watch the traffic on the street warily. She turned to look at Jules in all seriousness, those blue eyes seemingly even brighter. "But just so you know - I would never do that."

"I..." Jules started to say automatically but as she looked deeper into the woman's eyes, she completely believed her. "Thank you." 

Leah continued to stare at the Fed for another couple of seconds and then gave her that little half-smile before turning back around to watch the street. They needed to get out of this part of town so Leah could think and come up with a plan. Jules just stood there, her mind blank. She knew she should be doing something, but couldn't seem to think clearly as she kept glancing over in the direction of the police station. That part of the skyline above the little stand of trees was dark with smoke.

"Come on," Leah reached her hand out behind her and held it open for the Fed to take. "We need to keep moving."

Jules hesitated as she stared at the open hand. This was a mistake...possibly the worst mistake of her life. She was in enough trouble as it was and she knew that by taking this woman's hand it would be going against every rule and protocol she was supposed to follow. Jules should have been the one taking charge, leading the way and giving directions. This was supposed to be her job, but she could honestly say that she was scared to death right now...and for some odd reason that she really couldn't explain, she trusted this woman. 

She put her hand in Leah's and they started walking. 

****

It seemed to Jules like Leah dragged her all over the Queen City as they walked down backstreets, cut through the lobbies of various buildings and parking decks, backtracked, zig-zagged and moved in a random pattern for what felt like hours. The only time they stopped was when Jules suggested she should probably call into her office back in DC. That was when Leah had demanded her cell phone. After she took the battery out of it and the sim card, she handed it back to Jules and they started walking again. After another few blocks, Jules finally spoke up that her feet were out and out killing her and she had to rest. Without a word, Leah guided her for another half a block to some kind of retro diner that looked like it was straight out of the 1950's. 

Leah got them situated in a booth and then starting asking questions. At first Jules was reluctant to be honest, but thinking about the way her car had burned made her finally just start from the beginning and tell this abnormally calm woman with short blonde hair everything. Jules even included a few details about the bride-to-be and the bartender even though they weren't really relevant to their current situation. She wasn't sure why she felt she needed to share that part of the story. It wasn't appropriate, but maybe she did it to gauge the reaction of the woman sitting across from her. 

Leah didn't seem phased by it. She sat and listened with the same neutral expression. She asked a few questions every so often so she could clarify some detail or another, but for the most part she just listened intently. When Jules's story finally ended at the police station, Leah was having a hard time suppressing a grin.

"What?" Jules demanded. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing," Leah held her hands up in mock surrender but couldn't help the girlish giggle that escaped. "Okay, I'm sorry. It's not funny." 

"Then why are you laughing at me?"

"I'm not laughing at you," Leah corrected and giggled again. "I just got tickled is all."

"And what exactly tickled you?" Jules asked and made exaggerated air quotes with her fingers when she said the word tickled.

"It's nothing," Leah insisted and then rolled her eyes. "I just had this thought that struck me as funny."

"Oh, for Heaven's sake," an exasperated Jules threw her hands up. "Forget it, I don't want to know."

"Good idea," Leah mumbled and slid out of the booth. She announced that she was going to see about another vehicle and told Jules she'd be back as soon as she could. Before Jules could protest or insist on coming with her, Leah was gone. Jules sighed and ordered a cup of coffee. Sheesh...she wondered just how much more this assignment could not go the way she had thought it would. She sighed. She didn't think she was saving her career by any stretch of the imagination.

Two hours later, Jules was coming out of the ladies room after her fourth cup of coffee and looked up to find Leah sitting in the booth. Jules slid into the booth and looked at the blonde woman she was supposed to be escorting back to DC. Jules held her hand over her coffee cup as the waitress carrying the pot slowed down near their table. She looked at Leah steadily. "That took long enough."

"Oh...sorry about that," Leah replied as a shadow of irritation flashed across her face. "I don't know why I tend to dawdle whenever I'm out finding another vehicle for a federal agent who had her car blown up. My bad."

"I just...," Jules stopped and took a deep breath. She paused to rub her fingers into her temples. "You're right, I'm sorry. I have a headache and I think I drank too much coffee."

"Next time you should try decaf or maybe tea," Leah suggested. She turned her head and got the attention of the waitress and proceeded to order a full breakfast of eggs, bacon, toast, grits and orange juice. She looked over at Jules who just shook her head. "You should eat. We won't be stopping for a while once we get on the road."

"Fine," Jules sighed. "A bagel, please, toasted and lightly buttered."

They sat quietly until the waitress reappeared with their food and then the silence continued as they ate. Jules picked at her bagel, but Leah neatly and efficiently consumed everything on her plate until she was sopping up the last little bit of egg yolk, grits and bacon grease with her last piece of toast. After swallowing the last bite with a satisfied sigh, she drained the remains of her orange juice and then sat back with a hand on her stomach.

"Not hungry?"

"Not really," Jules shrugged. She picked up her coffee cup but set it back down without taking a drink.

"It would probably help your hangover if you ate the bagel," Leah quietly commented. 

"Look," Jules leaned over the table, changing the subject. "What exactly are we supposed to be doing right now? Other than not calling my boss and not reporting what happened?"

"Shouldn't you be the one telling me what we're doing?" Leah asked. Before Jules could answer Leah continued. "I get it - you don't have a lot of experience in the field, so you really aren't sure what we should do."

Jules frowned and started to say something, but Leah held her hand up. "Its fine, I won't hold it against you. Basically, you have two options. One, you can call your office, announce your location and wait for whoever it is you work for to send the cavalry."

"Which is what I'm supposed to do," Jules nodded and then added. "But I can tell you don't like that option."

"No," Leah sat up straighter. "I don't."

"Why?"

"Well, from what you've told me," Leah explained, "you pissed off someone with some juice. Just my opinion, but I wouldn't feel real comfortable if I were you." 

"I don't now...but let's say you're right," Jules replied slowly. "What's the second option?"

"Stay under the radar," Leah said simply. "Keep a very low profile and head back to DC. You said you trusted this Atwood guy, right?"

"One hundred percent," Jules confirmed. "He'll know what to do. I should call him."

"Bad idea," Leah shook her head. "You have no idea what resources some people have access to. It would scare the shit out of you if you knew what the NSA was capable of."

"You're serious?"

"Look, Agent Bradford," Leah leaned forward and put her forearms on the table. "I'm not going to tell you what to do, but I'm sure you've read my file...you know I've had a lot of experience with work like this. Once upon a time I used to do stuff like this for people in Washington. My personal opinion is you should get off the grid and stay off the grid until you can walk into Atwood's office in person and tell him your story."

"Wow," Jules slumped back in her seat. "You honestly think this is that serious?"

"Whoever's out there tried to burn you alive in your car in the parking lot of a police station," Leah shrugged. "What do you think?"

"Okay," Jules nodded almost to herself. "Okay...I guess you're right. I mean, you are right. So...what do we do?"

"We start driving," Leah replied. "Take the long way back to DC and I mean the long way. No phones, no computers, no credit cards. We pay cash for everything and use fake names when necessary."

"Wow," was all Jules could manage.

"Like I said - off the grid."

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure."

"Why are you so willing to help me?" Jules asked quietly. "I mean, you could have just taken off. Why did you stay?"

"I guess," Leah took a deep breath and let it out slowly, "because you need my help."

"That's..." Jules hesitated and looked puzzled before finishing, "very kind of you."

"Well, don't forget I was going to be in that car too," Leah added and looked around the restaurant. "I really don't appreciate being collateral damage."

"Oh," Jules replied with just the slightest trace of disappointment in her voice. "Yeah, I can see that."

"I also really, really don't like it when someone tries to victimize a woman," Leah added as she looked around the restaurant again and then almost mumbled, "I detest bullies."

"So what, are you like some kind of knight in shining armor or something?" Jules tried to joke. "Going around and rescuing damsels and all that."

"No," Leah said flatly and looked back at Jules with those almost disturbingly bright blue eyes. "I'm definitely not the good guy...not by a long shot."

For some reason, Jules shivered.

****

After paying their tab, the two women loaded up into the used Jeep Grand Cherokee that Leah had procured. Jules didn't bother asking where or how she got it. Jules got behind the wheel, but didn't have a clue as to Leah's strategy other than her original comment that they would be taking the "long way back to DC." Leah gave her directions to the interstate and they headed south. Again, Jules didn't say anything about the fact they were headed in the opposite direction of DC. She trusted that the tall blonde knew what she was doing as they kept driving until they were a good thirty minutes into South Carolina.

She soon found out that the long way meant going south to Columbia, South Carolina and then over to Florence before heading back up into North Carolina via Rockingham. At that point they stopped for gas and Leah took over the driving duties while Jules tried to nap. She managed to doze for a little while, but the smell of the ocean soon woke her and she realized they were almost to the coast. Shortly after waking up they stopped for gas, a restroom and a burger in Wilmington. Jules thought it would be nice to actually go down to the beach, but knew it was a silly urge and didn't have the nerve to say it out loud.

Back on the road, the day seemed to just drag on endlessly as they drove through the unbearable heat and humidity of the Carolinas. Jules was feeling marginally better from her hangover, but was bored out of her mind as her traveling companion wasn't all that talkative. It also wasn't like they were heading towards a specific destination in a straight shot. Every now and then Leah would decide they needed to detour off onto back roads just to be on the safe side. Finally, hours later, Leah pulled the Jeep into a town called Goldsboro, NC. Jules shook her head. What should have been somewhere around an eight hour trip with the normal stops for gas and restroom breaks had actually taken them eleven hours. 

Both women were utterly exhausted as Leah drove around the city of Goldsboro looking for just the right place to stop for the night. Jules was a little disappointed when they passed several nice looking chain hotels and Leah finally pulled into the parking lot of a rundown looking place that proclaimed itself to be a "motor lodge" by the sign out front. When Leah put the Jeep in park and shut off the engine, Jules just sat there looking at her. 

"What?" Leah finally asked.

"What - what?"

"I don't know," Leah shrugged as she opened her door and got out to stretch. "What are we waiting for?"

"Really?" Jules sighed heavily as she leaned over into the driver's seat a little so she could scowl up at Leah through the open driver's side door. "You had to pick the creepiest motel you could find?"

"Well," Leah started to explain as she leaned on top of the car door, but paused and arched an eyebrow at the Fed. It was pretty hard not to notice the lightly freckled cleavage that was practically spilling out of the redhead's blouse as she leaned over. Leah cleared her throat and looked away as she continued. "I picked a place that will probably let us pay cash with no questions asked. Not many hotels will let you book a room without a credit card."

"Oh...right," Jules finally nodded when she realized that Leah was correct. She sat up and with a sigh got out of the Jeep and followed Leah to the front office. She decided to wait outside of the cramped little front office and let Leah handle the check-in process. Jules watched through the big plate glass front window as the desk clerk handed Leah a room key and then looked up at the darkened sky as the first few raindrops were beginning to fall. 

It seemed that as soon as Leah let the door to the front office close behind her the clouds just opened up as the sprinkle of raindrops quickly turned into a downpour. Leah didn't bother saying anything as she grabbed Jules's arm and they practically ran down the walkway to the first grouping of rooms. Leah unlocked the door to the room on the end that was close to the Jeep and pushed it open for Jules. The two women got themselves out of the rain and into the room as quickly as they could, but unfortunately couldn't avoid getting soaked in the process. 

"I hope you don't mind sharing a room," Leah announced as she tossed the room key on the cheap little table that was by the window. "I guess I should have asked first, but we really need to conserve our cash."

"No, it's fine," Jules smiled as she looked around the dingy room, but her eyes kept returning to the bed. The one queen sized bed. Sharing a room meant sharing a bed too. "I don't have a problem with it if you don't."

"Okay, good," Leah nodded. "Do you want to take a shower first and get cleaned up?"

"No, you go ahead," Jules insisted with a smile. "I just want to sit down for a minute."

"Works for me," Leah nodded and put her backpack on the bed. She proceeded to pull both her soaking wet long sleeved t-shirt and her undershirt off at the same time over her head. Leah kept her head down as she unbuckled her belt while she kicked off her work boots. She then quickly slid her equally wet workpants off so that she was standing there in her sports bra and boy short panties. Jules realized she had just been standing by the door watching Leah take her clothes off, so she quickly walked around to the other side of the bed and sat down as the blonde placed her wet clothes in a neat little pile on the floor. Jules continued to watch from the corner of her eye as Leah bent over and started digging around in her backpack. Jules mentally shrugged - how in the world could anyone expect her not to look at that spectacular of a physique? 

Jules didn't want to get caught staring at the woman's firm butt or her long, lean legs or those amazing six pack abs so she busied herself with rummaging around in her purse until Leah disappeared into the bathroom. The tall blonde spent all of 15 minutes in there before emerging in a fresh, dry t-shirt and a loose pair of men's boxers with her short, damp hair slicked back. Jules quickly smiled and kept her eyes averted as they traded places and Jules closed the bathroom door. 

Leah's body seemed such a stark contrast to her own which was definitely softer and much curvier. Jules shook her head. She needed to get her mind off of anything remotely like that so she concentrated on her present physical state which for her was a complete mess. She stripped off her navy blue Ann Taylor suit jacket and pants which were dirty and wrinkled and set them on the lid of the commode. The white button down blouse followed which was just as dirty and wrinkled. She turned on the shower and her Victoria's Secret matching bra and panty set went on top of the pile and she stepped under the warm spray of water. The cheap shower head and mediocre water pressure felt like a five star spa as she let the water run over her head and body. 

Jules was so grateful to get out of those clothes and get clean that only now did it register in her brain that she didn't have a change of clothes. She didn't have anything. Her bag had gone up with the Crown Vic...she closed her eyes and took a deep breath so she wouldn't scream out of sheer exasperation. This was just great...no deodorant, no toothbrush, and ugh, she didn't even have clean panties to change into. 

She took out some of her frustration by vigorously scrubbing her body with the miniature bar of soap and by the time she was rinsing the last of the soap suds off she felt a little better. She used the entire little bottle of complimentary shampoo to wash her hair and then did the same thing with the little bottle of conditioner. While she let it soak into her auburn locks, she actually scrubbed her body again to try and get some of the imaginary travel grime off of her. 

Finally feeling marginally better and after using all of the hot water, Jules climbed out and dried off with the coarse hotel towel. She wrapped it around her, tucking it in at the top and then took the time to hand wash her bra and panties in the sink before putting them over the shower rod to dry. Jules stepped out of the bathroom in just her towel and just stood there looking sheepishly at Leah. The tall blonde was reclining back on the queen sized bed flipping through channels on the TV with the remote. 

Leah moved her eyes to Jules for a moment and went right back to looking at the television. In that glance Leah had taken in the fact that the motel towel wasn't doing a whole lot to contain the redheaded Fed's large breasts and the bottom edge ended high up on her thighs. As much as Leah had been mentally avoiding it, she had to admit to herself that her traveling companion was very attractive.

"Hey," Jules smiled awkwardly. "Do you have like an extra shirt or something I could borrow?"

Leah turned her head and looked at Jules again, longer this time.




The Retrieval... Ch. 01



"I, uh, don't have anything," Jules shrugged. "I mean my bag with all my clothes and everything was in my car...so, I don't have anything to sleep in."

"No problem," Leah nodded once. She swung her legs smoothly off the bed and stood up in one fluid motion. She took a step over to the little table and reached into her backpack and pulled out a t-shirt that was folded and rolled into a compact little tube. She also grabbed a small case that was zipped closed. She tossed them one at a time to Jules and resumed her position on the bed. "There's deodorant, cleanser and an extra toothbrush in the case. The shirt might be a little snug."

"Thanks," Jules replied as she held the items to her chest and went back into the bathroom, closing the door behind her. She came back out a few minutes later feeling almost human again and very grateful after being able to apply deodorant, clean her face properly and brush her teeth. The borrowed t-shirt ended up being a good length to sleep in as it came down to mid-thigh, but Leah had been on the money in her assessment about the fit. The lightweight khaki colored shirt hugged her large breasts like a second skin. Jules walked over to the table by the door that seemed to be serving as their make shift dresser. She didn't really know what to do with her things so she started to fold her dirty, wrinkled clothes. Jules turned her head and Leah was suddenly standing beside her. Jules looked up into Leah's bright blues eyes with a questioning expression. 

"Let me show you a little trick," Leah actually smiled a little as she took the jacket and pants from Jules. Leah set them down on top of her bag and then quickly removed all of the pillows, blankets and the top sheet from the bed. Without much effort she flipped the mattress up and off of the box spring to lean against the far wall. She then laid Jules's jacket and pants out flat on the box spring and then carefully smoothed all of the folds out of each one before putting the mattress back up on one edge of the box spring. The muscles in Leah's arms and shoulders bunched and rippled as she carefully set the mattress back down. Jules's clothes were now pressed flat between the mattress and the box spring. 

"This won't get them any cleaner," Leah explained as she started to put the blanket and comforter back on the bed. Jules immediately went to the other side of the bed to help her. "But it's the next best thing to an iron." 

Jules smiled gratefully at the blonde as they finished putting the last of the pillows back on the bed. "Thank you."

"No problem," Leah nodded and climbed back on the bed. "If you hang your shirt up in the bathroom, the steam from the shower will help it some." 

"Oh, okay...thanks," Jules did as Leah suggested and hung her blouse up on the curtain rod next to her underwear and then shut the bathroom door. She hesitated for a moment before walking around to the empty side of the bed. Jules kept pulling the hem of the t-shirt down self-consciously as she carefully climbed up on the bed next to Leah. Jules was unaware that by pulling on the edge of the borrowed shirt in an effort to keep her lower half covered since she wasn't wearing anything underneath it caused the thin cotton material to pull that much tighter across her large chest. Leah didn't move as she continued to watch the TV, but it was hard not to notice the vague outline of Jules's nipples and areolas through the thin shirt as the redhead wiggled around a bit to get comfortable. 

The two women continued to watch some mindless sitcom for a few more minutes and then Leah announced that they had quite a bit of driving ahead of them tomorrow so it would be best if they tried to get some sleep. She clicked the remote to shut the television off and then leaned over to kill the switch on the bedside lamp. Leah simply resumed her position of lying flat on her back above the bedspread with her hands folded on her stomach as Jules curled up on her side facing her. 

The rain wasn't letting up and provided a constant backdrop of subtle white noise that added to the hum of the air conditioner unit below the big picture window that struggled to keep the room cool. Leah lay perfectly still in the same prone position, breathing easily with her eyes closed while Jules fidgeted around for a while. The last thing Jules remembered was looking at the profile of Leah's sleeping face in the dark. 

****

Before Jules knew it she was scrunching her eyes tightly shut at the sunlight that was streaming in from the open motel room door. She managed to crack one of her eyes open and immediately held her hand up to try and block out the dazzling brightness. She mentally took in her surroundings as the last remnants of sleepy confusion slipped away. Jules realized she must have been warm last night and kicked the covers off in her sleep. Leah shut the door and set down a couple of paper bags and a pair of to go cups as Jules yawned. She straightened her legs out and put her arms out to the side in a big stretch that felt so good it actually elicited a groan.

"Morning," Leah said quietly and then quickly turned around to start concentrating on the contents of one of the bags.

"Good morning," Jules yawned and stretched again. She hadn't slept that well in a long time. So would this show be considered the matinee or what? the little voice in her head asked. Jules craned her neck up and to the side so she could see over the rise and swell of her boobs. Her t-shirt had ridden up from all of the stretching and her naked pussy was on full display. Jules could feel her face blush as she sat up and pulled the shirt back down so she was covered. 

"Yikes," Jules mumbled with a slightly embarrassed smile as she got out of bed and padded across the room to the bathroom. "Sorry about that."

"No worries," Leah shrugged as she unwrapped her breakfast. "It's not like I've never seen one before."

"Right," Jules laughed through the partially open bathroom door as she stepped into her panties and pulled them on. She came back out and sat down in the empty chair next to Leah at the rickety table. Her stomach audibly growled.

"Eat up," Leah instructed and slid the unopened paper bag in front of Jules. She put her elbows on the table as she took another bite of the monstrosity of a breakfast sandwich she was holding. It looked like whoever made it had tried to put as much breakfast food between two slices of toast that they possibly could as egg yolk began running over Leah's fingers.

"Thanks for getting breakfast," Jules smiled and took the lid off of her cup of coffee and hazarded a sip. She sighed. Caffeine, exactly what she needed. Jules took another sip and set the cup down and opened up her bag and found one of the monster sandwiches inside. She unwrapped it and picked a piece of bacon off of it to nibble on. "And thanks for loaning me the shirt last night."

Leah nodded in acknowledgement as she chewed and washed the bite of sandwich down with a gulp of coffee. "You're welcome."

Jules ate a bite of hash-brown that had fallen out of her sandwich. "Are you going to take another shower?"

"Already had one," Leah replied simply and polished off the last of her sandwich with a final bite. She chewed and drank some more of her coffee before saying, "You go ahead, but let's hustle up, okay? I want to be on the road as soon as we can."

"Oh, okay," Jules replied and started to stand. Leah's arm shot out and her hand was on Jules's hip right above her ass cheek before Jules had even straightened her legs out. Without hurting her in any way, Leah gently pressed down until Jules couldn't do anything but sit back down. There wasn't anything really out of the ordinary in the gesture other than it was something a very close friend or maybe even a lover would have done. It sent shivers up and down Jules's spine. 

"After you finish breakfast," Leah insisted. 

"Right," Jules smiled and gave Leah a strange look before picking up another piece of bacon off of her sandwich and taking a bite of it. Jules wasn't exactly sure why, but Leah insisting she eat before getting ready struck her as very endearing. It made her feel good in a way that she hadn't felt in a long time. 

****

The second day of travel went much like the first, but the mood between the two women had taken on a more comfortable feel. The seemingly endless hours spent in the SUV felt easier than the day before. For Jules there were times when it started to feel more like a college road trip adventure (minus the alcohol) rather than a clandestine route back to DC. The sobering reminders came when Leah would suddenly divert them off onto backroads and roundabout patterns of travel including backtracking as she studied the traffic behind them in the mirrors. When that happened Jules would grow quiet and start thinking about the reality of their predicament. Leah would sense Jules's discomfort and did a good job of getting the auburn haired Fed to talk about other things by asking her questions. Leah was a very good listener. 

The miles and hours flew by as they drove up to Raleigh, NC and then on into Virginia by way of Richmond and then Staunton before detouring over into West Virginia and finally stopping for the night in Morgantown, WV. Just like yesterday, the trip which should have been 10 hours with stops ended up taking over 13 hours and they were still at least another three and a half hours from DC. The one major difference was Leah had stopped at two different Good Will stores along the way to buy Jules some additional clothes. Not that Jules had been thrilled with the selection, but she was grateful to Leah for even thinking about it.

Leah found another motel of the type that would more than likely take cash with no questions asked and the two women went through the process of checking in. Without discussing it, they again went with one room only this time there was a king sized bed to share rather than a queen. After settling into the room, Jules went first in the shower this time while Leah helped herself to a slice of the pizza they had picked up on their way into town. Leah was finishing her second slice when she looked up as Jules came out of the bathroom.

"I may have to burn these," Jules announced as she set her old clothes down in a pile on the floor.

"Or you could just take them to the dry cleaners," Leah suggested and arched an eyebrow at the redhead.

"True," Jules agreed and then stopped and smiled at Leah when she noticed the look on the blonde's face. She already knew what that look was about. "What?"

"Um," Leah cleared her throat as she stood up and grabbed her things for the shower. "My shirt?"

"Sorry," Jules looked down at Leah's slightly too small t-shirt and then back up and gave her an exaggerated shrug which caused her large breasts to jiggle a little. "But it's really comfy." 

"Its fine," Leah shook her head, but Jules thought she saw that familiar little half-smile on the woman's face as she shut the bathroom door. 

Jules crawled up onto the bed with the remote and the pizza box and wiggled around to get comfortable before helping herself to a slice of pizza and opening a diet coke. She giggled a little to herself as she toasted the air. Being on the run was definitely one way to take a break from drinking. She was just starting to munch on her second piece of pizza when Leah came out of the bathroom awkwardly holding a towel in front of her. She was wearing the same loose boxer shorts from the night before. She walked across the room to her backpack and when she turned to open it, Jules saw that her roomie was topless. 

Leah didn't say anything as she moved the towel away from her body and laid it across the back of the motel chair. Jules tried not to stare but realized she was holding her breath as she watched the well-defined muscles of Leah's back move. Jules's hand floated self-consciously to her own soft, ever-so-slightly rounded tummy as she continued to watch Leah. The woman practically oozed strength from almost every pour. Her toned body was sleek and feminine. As Leah turned to the side, Jules saw that the woman's small but perky breasts were perfectly shaped just like every other one of her body parts. Jules thought they looked amazing on her tall, muscular frame. With her back to Jules, Leah finally slipped a t-shirt over her head and pulled it down. Jules quickly moved her eyes back to the television screen as Leah turned around and gracefully climbed onto the bed next to her.

"What are we watching?" Leah asked and helped herself to another slice of pizza.

"Huh?" Jules replied as she tried to process the question and ignore the start of that tingling feeling in her panties. "Oh, uh, nothing, I was just flipping."

"We have some time if you want to watch a movie or something," Leah replied between bites. 

"We do?"

"Yeah," Leah nodded. "We're only a few hours from DC. Since we want to make sure we hit Atwood's office when you know he'll be there, we don't need to leave as early."

"Okay," Jules nodded. She didn't want to think about tomorrow right now. Whenever she did it made her stomach flip-flop. Tomorrow and everything that came with it would be here soon enough, so she just wanted to be here in this motel eating pizza with Leah right now. "What do you want to watch?"

"Whatever you do," Leah shrugged one shoulder as Jules began flipping through the channels. "I really don't watch much TV, so whatever you decide is fine."

They ended up watching an episode from some series on one of the cable channels that of course just had to include a pretty graphic - but Jules thought really hot - sex scene between two of the female characters. Neither woman dared look at each other during or immediately after the scene played out on the screen. It was pretty obvious to the ultra-perceptive Leah that the way Jules's large chest heaved up and down as her breathing grew both shallower and quicker indicated that the redhead next to her was aroused. It wasn't hard to see why since Leah was just as guilty as evidenced by the wet spot she could feel in the crotch of her boxers.

What Leah couldn't have known was that it wasn't the sex scene that had made Jules wet or caused her nipples to harden - it was watching those images while being in such close proximity to the tall blonde lying next to her. As the episode ended, Jules handed the remote to Leah and excused herself to the bathroom. Jules brushed her teeth and relieved her bladder and then after washing her hands came back to find Leah had cleaned up the remains of the pizza and soda cans and turned the TV off. They went through the process of trading places so Leah could take her turn in the bathroom to get ready for bed. 

Jules walked over and checked to make sure the A/C was on high before climbing under the covers and getting comfortable. She took a breath and let it out slowly as she lay there, vividly remembering the image of the tall blonde woman dropping that towel and rummaging for a shirt. Jules had been trying to keep her mind off of the obvious signs that she was really horny all day, but the way Leah's body had looked when the woman moved had tapped deep into her libido. Not only did she think Leah was fucking hot, but Jules also wasn't used to going this long without at least giving herself an orgasm. In fact it was usually part of her nightly routine to masturbate if she wasn't otherwise engaged with a partner. 

Jules sighed again and just as she let her right hand idly wander down to run a fingertip along the waistband of her panties, the bathroom door opened. She willed herself not to jump and act guilty as Leah walked out. Instead, Jules just laid her hand flat on her lower stomach so that the very tips of her fingers were resting on the top part of her mons as Leah puttered about the room. Jules watched the blonde woman's long legs as Leah moved around putting her little travel case back in her backpack, checking the lock on the door and taking one last drink of water. She gave Jules that little half-smile smirk before turning out the bedside lamp and climbing into the bed next to the redhead. 

Leah actually got under the covers tonight as the air conditioner of this motel was working just fine and the room was nice and chilly. She laid down flat on her back and took a deep breath and let it out slowly as she relaxed and as Jules expected, simply folded her hands on her stomach and closed her eyes. Jules had never been in bed with another woman - and she thought to herself with the slightest of grins that she'd had more than her share of "sleepovers" - who slept without moving or changing positions all night. 

After Leah had settled in, Jules lay quietly next to her and closed her eyes as she waited. Jules didn't want to think about what tomorrow was going to be like or how it would play out, so she mentally began making a playlist of her all-time favorite classic rock songs. She figured if she went all the way to fifty songs then that should be long enough. So she went through the list in her head until she came to the end. Let's see... at 48 I think I'll put Foreigner's Long, Long Way from Home. I've always liked that song. 49 is going to be...hmmm... yep, The Boys are Back in Town by Thin Lizzy...and bringing up the rear at number 50...oh yeah, I got have some Tom Petty in there - American Girl. Such a classic. Jules actually smiled a little in her faux sleep at what she thought was one kick-ass mental mix tape. 

Jules partially opened one eye and let it adjust to the dark as she studied Leah's face. The longer she looked at the tall blonde's refined nose, sculpted cheekbones and rather delicate mouth the more Jules had to admit that she wasn't just horny for the sake of being horny...the real cause of her internal fire was the fact that she was more than just a little attracted to Leah. She continued to wait. Her traveling companion looked quite relaxed and peaceful as her breathing continued slow and steady. Jules waited for another couple of very long minutes of being still and just watching Leah in the dark to make sure her bedmate was asleep before she ever so slowly and quietly rolled over onto her back. She forced herself to lie still and hold her breath while she strained her ears, waiting to see if Leah would stir. 

When she judged enough time had gone by and Leah hadn't moved Jules very slowly brought her hands up to rest on her chest. She again waited a few moments, listening for any indication that her movements had disturbed Leah's slumber before finally rubbing her palms slowly along the outsides of her breasts. She did this a few times and then brought her hands down and under her breasts to try and cup them. She gave each of her large boobs a gentle squeeze even though they were much too large to fit into her hands. Jules felt her nipples grow even harder against her palms and then froze as she thought she detected just the slightest movement of Leah's arm. 

She tried not to move at all as she lay still with her hands full of tit and waited. Leah remained as she had been, eyes closed and breathing easily. 

Jules knew that what she was doing was really immature and could easily put her in a very awkward and embarrassing situation if Leah were to wake up unexpectedly...but she was so incredibly horny right now that she honestly didn't think she could stop herself even if she really wanted to. Besides, right now in this cheap motel room, lying in the dark next to this exceptionally alluring woman who had constantly been in her thoughts for the last twenty four hours...well, Jules decided that she had no intention of trying to stop herself from getting off. Inwardly, she knew it was that very risk and the thrill of possibly getting caught that was driving her to go ahead and indulge her desires.




The Retrieval... Ch. 01



Tapping into a reserve of patience that she never even knew she had, Jules inched her borrowed t-shirt up at a painstakingly slow pace so that her movements were minimal. She'd stop every few moments to be still and check on her bedmate, but soon enough she finally had the t-shirt pulled up high enough to expose her breasts. The shock of the cool air from the air conditioner made her gasp and she had to bite her lip from letting out a little moan. The flesh of Jules's rather small areolas immediately puckered and swelled and her nipples stiffened even further from both the sudden chill and her excitement. She gently squeezed the heavy globes and then took her pencil-eraser-sized nipples between her thumbs and fingers and gave them a light pinch. Again, Jules had to restrain herself from making any sounds. 

Jules's breasts were ultra-sensitive and she had experienced orgasms on several occasions from just having them sucked and played with. When she masturbated she always started by giving them lots of attention and could easily spend thirty minutes or more just caressing and massaging them until she was good and wet. Even when she was done teasing her boobs and was ready to take herself over the edge, her preference was to keep playing with her breasts with one hand while rubbing her clit with the other. She was pretty sure she wouldn't be able to do that tonight considering the need for discretion. That was okay because she knew it wouldn't take much with the way her pussy was literally throbbing with a delicious ache right now.

With her left hand pulling and lightly pinching her nipples, first one and then the other, she let her right hand slide down her belly. Her skin was soft, but pebbled with goosebumps as she moved lower to finally cup her mound. She gasped quietly at just how wet her panties were and closed her eyes at how good it felt to do nothing more than apply a little pressure and gently squeeze her sex. She gently pushed her thighs together and then let them slowly fall apart as she pushed down with her palm to put some pressure on her clit and then squeezed her hand again. 

Damn, that felt good. Jules was just about to repeat that same motion as she brought her thighs together and then froze as her senses sounded the alarm and her eyes popped open. Leah was right there beside her. The blonde was on her side facing towards Jules with her head propped up on one of her arms, watching the redhead intently. Jules didn't even turn her head as her eyes looked to the side at the gorgeous woman staring at her. Her brain was cringing as she desperately tried to think of what to say.

Leah reached out her hand and gently laid it on Jules's forearm, the same arm that she currently had between her legs. That cute little half-smile played across Leah's mouth before she whispered, "Don't stop."

"I...um...I just--" Jules started to whisper back, but was cut off when Leah softly ran her hand down from Jules's forearm to rest on top of the hand that Jules was cupping her pussy with. 

"It's okay," Leah whispered again and then blessed Jules with a full blown smile. "Don't stop."

Jules swallowed hard and finally turned her head to look at Leah's face. She was a little surprised as she stared into those amazing blue eyes that looked almost grey in the darkness of the room. She didn't see any judgement or condemnation. All Jules saw was the same thing she was feeling right now - full-blown lust. Jules smiled back at her, but then hesitated again as confusion clouded over her face when Leah withdrew her hand.

"Please," Leah encouraged in a quiet voice as she rested her hand on top of her own hip. "I want to watch you."

"Okay," Jules's smile returned and then she bit her lip as she became just a little self-conscious. She could feel her cheeks growing hot with a blush as she took her hand away from her pussy. She decided that she would just kind of start over since she now had an audience. Jules pulled her t-shirt off completely before starting to slowly rub and massage her breasts. She shivered as with each tickle and quiver of pleasant sensation, she became less and less inhibited. She moaned softly as she pinched her nipples. If Leah wanted to watch to her then Jules was determined to give the tall blonde a show.

"Wow," Leah breathed as she watched Jules pull on her nipples and moan again. To see the redheaded Fed's chest in a button down blouse or encased in a tight t-shirt was impressive, but to be able to watch Jules touch and play with those magnificent porcelain globes without being encumbered in a bra or clothing was like looking at a piece of artwork.

"Do you like them, Leah?" Jules asked her in a seductive whisper as she pushed her boobs together. 

Leah nodded her head as she continued to stare.

"Do you like it when I play with them for you?"

"Yes," Leah whispered and couldn't help but bring her hand up to her own breast. "It's really fucking hot."

"Mmmmm," Jules purred. "I like you watching me."

Leah didn't respond and couldn't take her eyes off of Jules's hands that were rubbing and squeezing those amazing tits. Jules gave Leah a wicked little grin as she pushed one of her breasts up towards her face. Leah's breath caught and she grabbed her own breast and gave it a hard squeeze as she watched Jules stick her tongue out and flick it across her own nipple. 

She looked at Leah and whispered, "Do you like that?"

"Yes," Leah whispered as if she was hypnotized by the redhead's breasts. Now it was Leah's turn to moan as she watched Jules's pull her head up a little and take the nipple she had been licking between her lips and begin sucking on it. Leah was actively pinching her own nipple through her shirt as she watched in amazement as Jules suckled her own breast. She began to pant when Jules opened her mouth so Leah could watch her tongue swirl over the swollen nub. 

Jules stopped and rolled onto her side so that she was facing the blonde. Jules matched Leah's position by propping herself up on her arm. She looked at Leah and pouted out her bottom lip and then looked back down at her chest and used a finger to poke herself in the nipple. She left her finger in place and looked up at Leah again. "I think this one is getting jealous."

"It is?" Leah asked hoarsely.

"Uh-huh," Jules smiled playfully and then took the nipple in question between her finger and thumb and gave it a little pinch. "I think it needs some attention too."

Leah still had her hand on her own breast and grew very still as she stared at the hard nipple that capped the tip of Jules's amazing breast. Her eyes went to Jules's face and then back down to the nipple the redhead was still lightly pinching and pulling on. Inwardly Leah wasn't too sure this was the best idea. A little playfulness was one thing, but taking things a step further could be complicated. She stared at the swollen bud that was being manipulated. Leah slowly leaned forward and Jules moved her hand. Leah stopped with her mouth inches away from Jules's nipple and looked up through her eyebrows at the sexy scowl that was on the redhead's face. Any further indecision or hesitation was lost when Jules reached up and grabbed Leah by the back of her head and pushed the blonde's face into her boob.

Leah allowed Jules to pull her head closer. The moment she felt Jules's hardened nipple press against her lips was when she knew that right or wrong, this was going to happen. Leah pushed the redhead onto her back and rolled with her so that she was now lying on top of her. Leah brought both of her hands up to firmly grasp as much of those heavy orbs of perfect flesh as she could. She began running her palms along their firm, rounded smoothness as her mouth opened and she stuck out her tongue to make a lazy circle around Jules's areola. Very slowly Leah trailed her tongue down into the deep valley of cleavage and then over to Jules's other breast to make the same circle around the other areola.

Jules began to gasp and squirm as Leah kissed and licked every inch and curve of her breasts except her nipples. The blonde seemed very content to tease Jules with her explorations by coming tantalizing close to the redhead's stiff little summits without touching them. Jules was starting to move her hips in anticipation of Leah's mouth eventually suckling her and the added stimulation of grinding herself against Leah's pelvic bone did nothing but turn up her internal heat. Jules felt like it wouldn't take much to take her over the edge of her pent up orgasm. It was definitely going to be a big one.

Jules wasn't the only one feeling it as Leah's arousal level was climbing by the second as well. She was thoroughly enjoying herself as she continued to kiss and lick as much of the flesh of Jules's breasts as she possibly could. Jules suddenly stopped her by pushing on her shoulders. She looked into Leah's eyes again. Confused, Leah thought maybe the redhead was having second thoughts, but then Jules began pulling and tugging at Leah's t-shirt until Leah sat up and helped her take it all the way off. Jules smiled as Leah eased back down on top of her and went right back to teasing and licking her tits. 

Jules closed her eyes. The feel of Leah's muscular body against hers was incredible. Jules began to wiggle around so that she could rub as much of her skin against Leah's as she could. Leah was busy thoroughly enjoying the exploration of Jules's amazing breasts, but as the redhead squirmed around, it just seemed natural to flow with her movements. Before long Leah was nuzzling and kissing her way up towards Jules's throat. Leah became lost in the moment as her trail of kisses continued upward to Jules's neck. With her eyes closed and her mind shut down to everything but the pleasure she was feeling, Leah found herself rising up and moving forward until she was lying directly in between Jules's legs and her face was hovering right above the redhead's. 

She opened her eyes and found Jules directly meeting her gaze. Without a word they began to slowly move in sync and grind themselves against each other. They were both breathing heavily and even propped up on her arms, Leah's breasts would come into contact with the redhead's generous boobs with every inhalation. After another moment of staring into each other's eyes, Leah slowly lowered her head and pressed her mouth against Jules's. At first the kiss was tentative as they softly pressed their lips together. Jules wasn't sure who moved first, but they each cocked their heads a little to the side and their mouths opened slightly. 

Jules liked kissing. She actually considered it a vital part of foreplay, but when her lips touched Leah's, something was different. She had never in her life felt the kind of spark that ignited when she and Leah began really kissing. Leah's mouth felt so delicate and soft and seemed to mold to hers in a way that was almost magical. The kiss started off soft and slow and felt so intimate and sensual that Jules stopped grinding her hips as everything else just kind of faded away.

Leah was also caught off guard by the power of that kiss. She wasn't sure if it was maybe due to her lack of experience since she'd only kissed three other women in her adult life, but she was completely unprepared for the passion she felt when her mouth opened and accepted Jules's. Leah's eyes even popped open in surprise, giving her an extreme close up view of the pale skin of Jules's cheekbone. The redhead had her eyes closed. The heat and passion of their kiss began to build and then Jules's tongue tentatively slipped past Leah's lips and began softly exploring the blonde's mouth. 

Leah closed her eyes and reciprocated by massaging Jules's tongue with her own in response. As their kiss deepened and tongues continued to tease and caress, Leah's body suddenly flooded her brain with all of these incredible sensations at once. Jules's right hand was inside the waistband of Leah's panties softly stroking an ass cheek while the fingernails of her left hand ran gently strummed back and forth along Leah's ribs. When the redhead bent her leg and began running the ball of her left foot up and down the back of Leah's calf, the blonde though she might go crazy it felt so good. But that was nothing compared to the feeling in Leah's nipples as they brushed back and forth along the under curve of Jules's larger breasts. Leah pushed forward just a little so she could get her own nipple to scrape against Jules's nipple and the redhead moaned into her mouth. 

Both women were panting when they finally broke the kiss. Jules gripped Leah's forearms with both of her hands so she could continue to grind her pussy against Leah's pelvis. Leah looked at this auburn haired beauty lying beneath her. She had a little mischievous glimmer in her blue eyes as she adjusted her position and shifted her weight so that her groin was lined up directly against Jules's. Leah pushed her hips forward and shifted them slightly until she was pressing the top of her pussy and thus her clit right up against Jules's. This elicited a loud gasp from the redhead.

"Fuck that feels good," Jules hissed.

Leah undulated her hips so that her lower body pulled away slightly and then quickly pressed forward again into the same spot. Jules closed her eyes and let out a groan as her hands gripped even tighter onto Leah's forearms. Leah grew still and stayed in that same position for a moment until Jules opened her eyes again. Leah grinned at the pleading look on Jules's face and then stole a page from the redhead's playbook. 

"Do you like that?"

"Holy shit!" Jules gasped and then used Leah's forearms as a kind of brace to pull her upper body up and off the bed far enough until she could reach Leah's mouth. She mashed her lips against Leah's, kissing the blonde forcefully before the awkward position of holding herself up was too strenuous to maintain. Jules collapsed back down onto the bed, her breasts bouncing and jiggling to Leah's delight.

"I'll take that as a yes," Leah grinned and then pumped her hips again, rubbing their pussies together.

"You can take that as a definite yes," Jules grinned back and then let out another moan as Leah repeated the motion. Leah was starting to really enjoy that reaction and smiled down at her, but then that sexy little scowl was back on Jules's face. 

"Leah?"

"Yeah?"

"Fuck me," Jules whispered as seductively as she could. She let go of Leah's arms and grabbed her own breasts and gave them a squeeze as she looked into Leah's eyes. "Please...fuck me."

Leah let her arms bend and lowered herself down so she could reclaim that wonderful sensation of her breasts pressed against Jules's chest. She brought one hand up to the side of Jules's face and tenderly kissed those soft, pouty lips. Leah's other hand went down and dug into the sheets and blanket from the side until she was able to cup Jules's ass cheek. She started to gently massage and squeeze the warm flesh of the redhead's ass. She kissed Jules and then kissed her again before replying, "As you wish."

The rhythm began in Leah's hips as she started rolling them, grinding herself into Jules's pussy. She started the pace off slow and deliberate, each woman feeling the pressure build and then release. Build and release...over and over again. As she moved, Leah kept her face right up against Jules's and continued to plant soft kisses on and around the redhead's mouth, pausing here and there to take quick nibbles on Jules's lower lip.

Leah began to increase the speed of her gyrations which combined with the amount of fluid that was leaking from each of their now very wet pussies produced an unbelievably pleasant sensation of friction. Jules was gasping from pleasure and Leah was as well but some of her panting was also from exertion. Leah dug her toes into the mattress and began assisting her movements by using the muscles in her legs which just made the sensations feel even better.

"Faster," Jules panted and stretched her arms down to grab Leah's ass, a firm cheek in each hand. Leah obliged her and increased the tempo, grinding her pussy into the redhead's even harder. 

"Fuck yes," Jules gasped. She spread her legs wider and moaned loudly. "Don't stop, baby...please don't stop."

Sweat was starting to stream down Leah's face as she focused on maintaining the fast, intense rhythm of thrusting her hips and grinding her sex into Jules's. Her lower back was just starting to ache a little and her leg muscles were threatening to start cramping, but she willed herself not to slow down or let up. Leah not only wanted the beautiful woman beneath her to cum, she needed her to. 

"Oh...Oh!" Jules's voice went to a higher pitch and then she wrapped both of her arms around Leah's neck and pulled the blonde woman down closer to her so that their breasts were pressed tightly together. Jules started wildly thrusting her hips into Leah's as she moaned, "I'm cumming...I'm cumming."

Leah almost melted into the redhead's embrace and had just started to slow down when Jules urgently whispered, "Don't stop, don't stop, I'm still cumming..." 

The rest of her words were lost in another low, drawn out moan. Jules held on to Leah tightly as her body shook and vibrated. Her back involuntarily arched and all of her muscles seemed to spasm at the same time and then suddenly relax as wave after wave of pleasure radiated from her pussy into every nerve ending of her body. After what felt like hours, Jules's orgasm didn't really end, but rather each wave of pleasure seemed to lessen in intensity as it receded. 

She finally collapsed back onto the bed with her arms flopped uselessly out to the sides with Leah still lying on top of her. Her body continued to twitch with the aftershocks. Leah eased herself off of the redhead who was gasping and panting as if she'd just run a marathon. Leah was breathing hard herself from the effort, a film of sweat coating her body. 

"Holy fucking fucks," Jules's voice was still a bit ragged. She blew out a large breath as her hand hunted around uselessly towards the night stand for Leah's bottle of water. Leah stretched out and grabbed it for her. Jules took the water bottle from her and drank greedily before offering it to Leah.

Leah finished it off and then used the back of her hand to wipe some of the sweat off of her forehead before it ran into her eyes. Leah sat up and leaned over again and grabbed her discarded t-shirt and used it to mop her face. When she went to toss the shirt aside, Jules was wriggling her way down lower on the bed.

"Your turn," Jules smiled wickedly and patted her upper chest. 

"My turn, huh?" Leah arched an eyebrow. She mimicked Jules's motion by patting her own chest. "And what exactly is that the universal sign for?"

"Well," Jules explained with a grin and reached over to lovingly run her near hand up Leah's thigh. "In some culture's it is an expression of thanks as in hey, thank you very much for the awesome fucking orgasm."

Leah couldn't help but giggle. "Oh, well I didn't know that. In that case, you are very welcome."

"But that's only in some cultures," Jules went on and her hand moved up to pull on Leah's arm until the blonde relented and let herself be pulled over. Jules brought her down and low enough so that she could tenderly kiss Leah's lips before whispering, "In this particular case it means bring that pussy over here and sit on my face, you sexy bitch."

Leah sat back up and laughed, a full on belly laugh. "Is that what that means?"

Jules bit her lip and nodded eagerly. 

"Well," Leah continued chuckling, "I certainly don't want to offend anyone in this culture by refusing."

"Good decision," Jules agreed. "Now move your ass, blondie."

"As you wish," Leah smiled that full-on beautiful smile again. 

The tall blonde rolled over and in one fluid motion stood up on the bed. Towering over the redhead, Leah slowly started sliding her panties over her hips until she was able to let them fall down her legs to her feet. Jules thought Leah looked like some kind of beautiful, naked Amazon warrior standing above her like that with her muscles gleaming with perspiration. 




The Retrieval... Ch. 01



Leah took two steps so that her feet were on either side of Jules's shoulders. She looked down at Jules and arched an eyebrow. "Are you sure about this?"

"Mmmhmm," Jules smiled and ran her hands up and down the back of Leah's calves. She licked her lips as she stared hungrily at Leah's pussy. "If you only knew how absolutely sure I am."

"Okay, okay, I believe you," Leah giggled girlishly and lowered herself down to her knees. With her long legs, her sex was still hovering several inches above Jules's eager mouth. Jules craned her neck up and planted a soft kiss on Leah's slick lips.

Leah grunted softly at the unexpected contact and that was all the motivation she needed. She let her knees slide out to the side, lowering her mound down until it was almost but not quite touching Jules's mouth. Jules adjusted her arms under Leah's legs so she could reach under and grab the blonde's ass. She used this leverage to force Leah a little lower and covered the blonde's swollen labia with her mouth. Leah gasped and braced herself by resting her hands on her thighs.

Jules adored going down on women. She considered herself an expert in the art of giving head because she truly believed she enjoyed it just as much as the woman she was pleasuring. She started by literally kissing Leah's pussy as if she were kissing the woman's mouth, savoring the sweet, tangy nectar. Jules gently massaged Leah's labia with her lips while her tongue slowly explored the blonde's inner folds. She then parted Leah's lips with her tongue and began swirling it into Leah's depths. 

"Damn," Leah gasped as she looked down at Jules. "That feels good...really fucking good." 

Encouraged, Jules enthusiastically delved deeper into Leah's depths, using her tongue to fuck the blonde's pussy. Leah brought one of her hands up to pinch on her swollen nipple, but then Jules did something with her tongue that caused Leah to bark, "Shit!" and she brought both of her hands up to plant solidly against the wall above the bed. Leah began rocking her hips, pushing her pussy down harder onto Jules's mouth. 

Jules moved her efforts up to Leah's clit and began by fluttering her tongue rapidly over the little nub. Leah was moaning with her mouth closed so that it sounded almost like she was humming as she continued to move her hips. When Jules took Leah's clit into her mouth and started to gently suck on it while lashing it with her tongue, the blonde began to tremble.

"Fingers," Leah panted suddenly. "Use your fingers."

Jules slipped one of her hands down from Leah's ass to the woman's pussy, but from the awkward angle of her arm she ended up having to use her thumb. She slipped it inside the velvety entrance as she continued sucking and swirling her tongue around Leah's clit. It took Jules a few strokes to match the rhythm of Leah's hips, but soon Jules was rapidly finger or rather thumb-fucking the blonde. She quickened the pace of her thrusts into Leah's pussy as well as the ministrations of her tongue on Leah's clit and it didn't take long before striking the proverbial gold. 

Leah's humming turned into whimpers as she threw her head back. Her whole body suddenly tensed up and she squeezed Jules's head between her thighs as she began to shudder. She had been holding her breath as her orgasm overtook her and she let out a short gasp. Leah tensed up again to the point where she grew almost still. She let out another loud gasp and then her body shook and shuddered again. With a final gasp that came out as a squeak, Leah literally threw herself off of Jules and collapsed in a heap beside the redhead. 

Jules rolled onto her side to face Leah who was now curled up in the fetal position with her eyes closed breathing heavily. She reached over to push some of the blonde hair off of Leah's forehead. "Was that okay?"

"Okay?" Leah mumbled and opened one eye. "That was...incredible."

"Really?" Jules teased. "Just incredible?"

"No," Leah blessed her with that full-blown smile. "Fucking incredible."

"Now that's more like it," Jules smiled back. 

She leaned up and adjusted the pillows behind her and then gently slid an arm under Leah's head. Leah pulled back slightly and stiffened at the sudden intimacy. Confused, Jules wasn't sure what had she done wrong as she could feel the blonde woman's unexpected tension. Jules was about to remove her arm and scoot back over until Leah let out a small sigh and relaxed again. They were quiet and still for a few minutes and then Leah actually snuggled into the redhead, resting her head against a large breast.

"You know," Jules commented quietly after a few minutes. "I loved that movie when I was a kid."

"What movie?"

"The Princess Bride," Jules replied. "You know, that whole 'as you wish' thing?"

"Mmmm," Leah agreed sleepily. "Me too."

"But, um," Jules continued softly. "You, uh...you know what Wesley meant when he said that, right?" 

Silence.

"Leah?" Jules whispered as she pulled her head back slightly to try and look at the blonde woman's face.

Leah's eyes were closed and she was breathing steadily, asleep.



The Retrieval... Ch. 02



Author's Note: First off, I'd like to sincerely thank everyone who has read, voted, favorited and commented on my stories. It is very much appreciated! In terms of this submission, I had a blast writing and getting to know the characters of Jules and Leah and seeing where their story took me...and from the feedback, I'm glad y'all seemed to enjoy the ride as well. So without further ado, here is Ch.02 - and I'd strongly suggest that you read Ch.01 first if you haven't yet. 

This story is a complete work of fiction from my imagination, so if I screwed this up in any way - sorry about that. And of course this story includes sexually explicit material and is intended for adults, so if you are not at least 18 years of age or are offended by sexual material - I'm not really sure why you would be on Lit in the first place, so there's that...for the rest of you, thank you for reading, feel free to give feedback, please remember to vote - and I hope you enjoy! 

**** 

"What movie?" 

"The Princess Bride," Jules replied. "You know, that whole 'as you wish' thing?" 

"Mmmm," Leah agreed sleepily. "Me too." 

"But, um," Jules continued softly. "You, uh...you know what Wesley meant when he said that, right?" 

Silence. 

"Leah?" Jules whispered as she pulled her head back slightly to try and look at the blonde woman's face. 

Leah's eyes were closed and she was breathing steadily, asleep. 

**** 

Jules settled into her pillow and started running her fingers lightly up and down the bare skin of Leah's back. Leah made a small sound in her throat and frowned in her sleep before moving in even closer and nuzzling Jules's breast. Jules liked the way Leah was snuggled up close. This intimate contact felt nice. It was...comforting. No, it was more than that - Jules had to admit that this woman made her feel safe in a way that no one ever had. She was especially thankful for that secure feeling right now because she couldn't help but think about what they had to face in just a few hours. 

The afterglow of the amazing sex with Leah continued to rapidly fade away as the minutes ticked by and sleep continued to elude her. As hard as she tried not to let it, the threat of tomorrow kept relentlessly crowding into the redhead's thoughts. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. The rational part of Jules's brain knew that worrying about it wasn't going to make it go away or keep it from happening. 

Another heavy sigh escaped her lips. She tried to stop thinking altogether and just be thankful for the fact that she didn't have to face this alone. Jules leaned her head down and kissed the top of Leah's head. It was at this point she came to the conclusion that the problem was that tomorrow wasn't only about going back to DC and dealing with the threat - it also meant facing Leah in the cold light of day and sorting out everything that had happened tonight. 

It shouldn't be that big of a deal, should it? Jules felt like they had connected - like really connected...but what did that really mean? Did Leah feel it too? The redheaded Federal Agent tried to imagine the future and what it would be like with Leah. Jules didn't do relationships - or at least she hadn't done one in a really long time. Maybe it had been too long. But shouldn't she at least consider the possibilities? Maybe it could be different this time with Leah...so why was the prospect of that scaring the hell out of her? 

Really? The little voice in her head popped up and called her out. You make this amazing connection with the blonde Xena over there and that scares you? 

Yes, Jules admitted silently. It scares me. 

What exactly is the scary part of this? Is it the great sex? Or the fact that she really seems to like you? Oh, wait, maybe it scares you that she saved your ass and then hung around to protect it and escort you back home. Is that the scary part? 

Just shut up, Leah scowled. I don't want to talk about it. 

Oh, so now we talk? The little voice shot back. I think the way this usually works is that I tell you how things really are and what you should do and then you tell me to shut up, go into denial and continue to fuck your life up. 

Jules slowly eased her arm out from under Leah's head and tried not to wake the blonde as she moved to roll over and face the other way. She had no idea how this whole thing was going to play out. Jules had a strong suspicion that no matter what happened it was not going to be good. Somehow she'd find a way to screw it up. It had never turned out good before, so why should this time be different? Jules stayed awake for a long time, just lying there and staring into the gloom of the darkened room as a few tears rolled down her cheeks. 

She didn't remember falling asleep. 

**** 

Before Leah opened her eyes she smelled strawberries. 

She inhaled deeply and knew that it was the shampoo Jules had used on her thick, auburn hair. She could feel some stray hairs tickling her nose. It made her smile. Leah stretched one of her legs out and luxuriated in the cozy warmth of spooning her shorter bedmate. She loved the feel of Jules's rounded ass pressed against her groin and the back of the redhead's leg against her thigh. There was something about the sleepy body heat they were sharing that just felt so damn good against the chill of the room's air conditioning. It made Leah never want to get out of this bed. 

Finally Leah allowed herself to totally shift all of her attention to the utterly delicious weight of Jules's large breast. At some point during their sleep-cuddling, Leah had ended up with her arm draped over Jules's waist and bent at the elbow so that her hand was resting on the underside of Jules's near boob. Leah gently moved her hand up a little so that she was fully cupping the large orb of soft, warm flesh. Leah closed her eyes as she gave it a gentle squeeze, trying to let the sensation of exactly how this magnificent tit felt in her hand burn itself into her memory. 

Leah had always been a 'breast girl' so to speak, but the redhead's boobs truly fascinated her. 

The only time she had ever seen breasts this big and this perfectly shaped was in magazines or some other form of photo-shopped media. She could hardly believe that the almost flawless pair of large, porcelain globes were literally at her fingertips. Leah moved her hand to follow the outside curve of the perfectly rounded breast. The skin felt so smooth under her fingers. They sat high up on Jules's chest and there was surprisingly very little sag considering their size. Contrary to what she suspected most people probably thought upon seeing them hidden behind clothing, Leah now knew first-hand that there wasn't a single fake thing about them. More than just their size and shape, it truly amazed the blonde at just how soft they were, but yet still so firm to the touch. 

Leah let her palm drift up and over until she could feel the little nub of Jules's nipple. She thought they were so sexy and cute and along with the redhead's areolas were surprisingly smaller than expected considering the size of Jules's chest. Leah gave the sizable boob in her hand another gentle massage and was rewarded with the feeling of Jules's areola swelling and the redhead's nipple hardening under her touch. Leah adjusted her hand so that the nipple was between her thumb and forefinger. 

She softly pulled on it until Jules let out a groan. 

**** 

Jules had the sensation of floating somewhere in the warm depths of a dark abyss. 

She shifted one of her legs and suddenly found herself ascending rapidly towards the surface of consciousness from that deep dive in the sea of slumber. Her approach toward wakefulness started to slow as some part of her brain hit the emergency brake and demanded further sleep. Her breathing evened back out until she started to sink back down, but then she felt some unknown force start to softly slide across her flesh. It felt nice. She gradually became aware that this caressing current seemed to be focusing on her right breast for some reason. 

Jules struggled to blink her eyes open and realized that what started out as a fitful night of rest must have ended up as a really deep sleep. From behind her a hand ran smoothly along the outside of her boob. She could feel the strength in that hand. Leah's hand. When Leah moved her palm over to cover Jules's nipple it caused the redhead's breath to catch. Now that's a wake-up call, she thought dreamily and then couldn't do anything but groan at the pleasure Leah's fingers produced when she began gently tugging on Jules's hardening nipple. 

**** 

The tall blonde wasn't normally this horny first thing in the morning, but what she and Jules had shared last night served to ignite something in her that she hadn't felt in a long time. 

Leah started to subtly thrust her hips so that she was gently pushing her groin against Jules's ass as she continued to tenderly massage the redhead's tit. That sexy little groan Jules emitted just turned Leah on that much more, so she used her chin to push the long auburn locks aside and brought her lips to the pale skin of Jules's neckline. She began nuzzling and kissing up and down the warm skin of Jules's neck. It felt so buttery soft against her lips until it immediately pebbled into gooseflesh. That made Leah smile again. She stuck out her tongue and ran it from Jules's earlobe all the way down to the auburn haired beauty's collarbone, savoring the ever so slightly salty taste of her lover's skin. 

Leah's kisses against Jules's neck grew longer and wetter as her kneading and stroking of the redhead's breast became firmer. It wasn't enough. Leah's hunger continued to build until she couldn't deny the sense of urgency that was building in her need for the redhead. Leah didn't just want Jules, every fiber of her being was craving to touch and taste the woman in her arms. She started to grind herself harder against Jules's ass. 

Jules gasped and arched her back, pressing her large breast even harder into Leah's hand. Jules lifted her arm up and her hand went behind Leah's head, pulling the blonde in closer. Leah managed to snake the arm she was lying on under Jules's body so that she could reach the far boob that was resting against the mattress. With both of her hands now overflowing with glorious tit-flesh, Leah continued to massage and squeeze them. Jules moaned again and then impatiently turned and started to roll over and face Leah, but was intercepted by the taller woman. 

Leah moved her body in between the redhead's legs so that she was lying on top of Jules and looked deeply into her eyes. 

**** 

Jules could feel proof of Leah's excitement on her ass and dripping down the back of her leg. 

As soon as Leah's other arm came under her so that the blonde was grasping at and squeezing both of Jules's breasts, the redhead was ready for more. She wanted to feel Leah's lips against her own. She wanted to crush her chest against the woman's smaller breasts so that she could feel those delicious nipples poking into her breasts. She wanted to taste the nectar that was now painted on her backside and most of all, she wanted the chance to visually drink in the absolute perfection of the woman's body that was hidden behind her and giving her such immense pleasure this morning. The redhead's plan of attack to ambush her prey with a sudden change in position was easily thwarted. Almost as soon as she had started to move, Jules found herself flat on her back with Leah on top of her. She found it hard to swallow as she stared up into those sparkling blue eyes. 

"Good morning, sunshine," Leah whispered as that familiar half-smile appeared. Leah lowered her head down to plant a kiss in the hollow of Jules's throat. 

"Morning," Jules gasped as she shivered. 

"Hmmmm," Leah observed. "This position seems familiar to me. You?" 

"Uh huh," Jules croaked as Leah kissed her throat again and then gave it a lick. 

"Did you sleep well?" Leah murmured as she lightly kissed her way down to the tops of Jules's breasts. 

"Mmmhmm," was all Jules could manage. 

Ever so softly Leah began to make a trail of tender kisses and little kitten licks across the redhead's chest. She slightly adjusted her long frame as she folded her arms and put her weight on her elbows so she could fill her hands with those breasts. Her path of nibbles, kisses and licks moved to the outside of Jules's right breast, down to the luxuriously soft underside of her boob, up through the woman's deep cleavage and then over to begin repeating this same ritual of worship on the left one. Leah ran her tongue directly across Jules's collarbone to start over again on the right breast, but narrowed her circle so that her mouth came tantalizingly close to the redheads' aching nipple. 

"Mmm fuck," Jules groaned as Leah softly blew on the hardened summit of her right tit. "Why do you enjoy teasing me so much?" 

Leah grinned and blew on it again. Last night's efforts of teasing these glorious breasts had been nothing but an appetizer. 

By the time the blonde was ending her third complete circuit of exploration on Jules's left breast, the redhead was sighing heavily and starting to squirm. As much as she enjoyed teasing Jules, Leah figured she had delayed the gratification long enough although she thought she could have realistically spent hours exploring every inch and curve of the pale flesh. She moved her mouth over and let it hover above Jules's right nipple and then snaked her tongue out to give the nub a firm lick. Jules gasped and arched her back up and Leah rewarded her by drawing the entire tip into her mouth. 

The groans and gasps of the redhead were becoming constant as Leah gently suckled her. She would alternate a strong suction with swirls of her tongue and then flutter the tip of her tongue against the very tip of Jules's breast. Jules actually yelped and brought both hands up to grip Leah's hair when the blonde softly bit down and gently tugged on it with her teeth. Leah started rapidly alternating between sucking, flicking with her tongue and pulling on it with her teeth. Jules began tossing her head back and forth as she started to feel the first little sparks of an orgasm building. Unexpectedly, she felt the warmth leave her breast and the cool air of the motel room seemed to zap directly into her aching nipple. She closed her eyes at the pause in pleasure and then moaned even louder when Leah moved her head over to begin working on the redhead's left nipple. 

Finally Leah felt it was time to move on to her ultimate destination. She released the nipple from her mouth with a little popping sound and began kissing and licking her way down to the redheads' stomach. She loved the fact that this sent a fresh wave of goosebumps across the porcelain skin like the ripples in a pond. Leah again adjusted her position as she kissed lower until her lips were pressed against the inside of Jules's thigh which was already coated with some of the wetness that was flowing from the woman's sex. Leah inhaled the redhead's musky scent and savored the tangy sweetness of her juice before leaning in to softly kiss the top of the woman's mons. 

Jules spread her legs further apart in anticipation and brought her hands to her chest to begin squeezing and kneading her breasts. 

Leah gave Jules's pussy another tender kiss and then moved her mouth lower. She extended her tongue and made it flatten against the bottom of Jules's bare outer lips and slowly drew it upwards until it just touched the very tip of Jules's swollen clit that was poking out of its hood. Leah gave Jules's pussy another of these firm licks from just above her cute little rosebud all the way up to the redhead's clit. On her third full bottom-to-top lick, Jules's soft outer lips parted and Leah was rewarded with a stronger taste of the sweet nectar. Leah used her tongue to part the swollen inner lips and began working her tongue into the velvety texture of the redhead's center. 

Leah looked up through her eyebrows and grinned to find Jules's had leaned to the side so see around the swell of her breasts and a pair of wide green eyes were watching her intently. The blonde licked her way up to lightly run her tongue in circles around Jules's clit. She swirled and fluttered her tongue much like she had done to the redhead's nipple. Jules was softly moaning as she continued playing with her tits and watching Leah lick her pussy. She pulled and pinched on her nipples as Leah ran her tongue back down to burrow even deeper into Jules's core. 

Jules let out a louder moan and began panting rapidly before whispering, "Please, Leah..." 

"Please?" Leah paused long enough to ask and then licked Jules's slit again. She paused again. "Please what?" 

"Please," Jules moaned as Leah reached up with her hand to put a finger on either side of Jules's clit and gently squeezed. "Please...make me cum." 

Leah began making circles around Jules's swollen, throbbing clit with her thumb as she watched the redhead arch her back and play with her breasts. Jules finally opened her eyes and looked pleadingly into Leah's. Leah smiled at her and said, "As you wish." 

She put her mouth over Jules's clit and gently took the nub between her lips and swirled her tongue around it. Leah began to hum softly. The redhead moaned her approval of the technique. Leah managed to smile with her mouth full of pussy and did it again. She brought her hands underneath Jules body and cupped a luscious ass cheek in each hand and used them to lift up and leverage the redhead's slick folds even closer to her mouth. Jules was started to grind her hips into Leah's efforts and it was encouraging the blonde to work even harder to bring her auburn haired lover pleasure. She absolutely loved the way she could provoke Jules into writhing and moving under her touch. 

Leah withdrew her hands from the redhead's bottom and Jules gasped when Leah brought one of her long fingers up and pushed it into Jules's willing entrance. Leah's finger bent and searched for that elusive bundle of nerves. She felt the spongy surface of what she was looking for and began caressing it with her fingertip. The redhead's legs started shaking. Leah continued humming, sucking, swirling and fluttering her tongue on Jules's clit as she changed tactics and started to pump her finger slowly in and out of the redhead's pussy. The combination sent Jules over the edge. 

The redhead's loud moan escalated into a hoarse scream as both of her arms flung out to her sides and she grabbed fistfuls of bedspread and sheets. Jules arched her back and went rigid as her entire body felt like it was being electrified. She bucked her hips and let out another loud gasp as the wave of pleasure grew in size and a second orgasm racked her body, the intense feeling threatening to overload her senses. Leah greedily lapped up the abundance of the woman's release as Jules thrashed about in ecstasy. A few moments later Jules unceremoniously collapsed back onto the bed like a marionette whose strings had been cut. 

"Ohhh, stop...stop, stop, stop," Jules pleaded as she ineffectually tried to push Leah's head away from her now overly sensitive pussy. 

Leah relented, but not before giving Jules one more wet kiss right in the center of her mound. With a grin that seemed to say she was just as satisfied as Jules, Leah crawled up onto the bed and snaked her arms around the curvy redhead. The blonde's mouth, chin and upper chest glistened with Jules's cum. She beamed at her lover, very proud of the sheer pleasure she had brought Jules. Leah giggled and brought her mouth to Jules's and kissed the redhead deeply so that she could taste for herself. 

They couldn't help but smile at each other after breaking the kiss. 




The Retrieval... Ch. 02



"Give me just a minute or two," Jules told her even though she was still breathing heavily. 

"For what?" 

"For you," Jules grinned and ran her hand up and down Leah's muscular flank. "Your turn." 

"That's okay," Leah grinned back. "I'm good." 

"What do you mean you're good?" 

"I wanted that to be about you," Leah said simply. 

"Aw, come on," Jules insisted. "Let me make you cum." 

Instead of answering, Leah reached up to tenderly push a lock of auburn hair behind Jules's ear. She smiled at the redhead like she wanted to say something, but chose to pull Jules closer and then softly kiss her. Jules was a little caught off guard. This kiss was so different than any of the others they had shared. It wasn't about passion or exploration and held none of the promise of something more to come. It felt very tender and emotional. 

Leah ended the kiss and then looked into the redhead's eyes. There was a sparkle within the depths of those startling blue eyes that Jules had either never noticed before or was new. Leah kissed Jules again quickly on the cheek before bouncing out of the bed. The tall blonde seemed full of energy as she announced she was going to take a shower. Jules just lay on the bed in a state of shock. 

The kiss...that look...had been unexpected. 

**** 

"Are you hungry?" Leah asked hopefully when Jules finally emerged from the bathroom wearing one towel wrapped around her body and another wrapped around her hair turban style. As soon as Leah had finished in the shower, she had quickly gotten dressed and went out while Jules took her turn in the bathroom. 

"Famished," Jules smiled and walked over to sit down next to Leah at the cheap formica table. The blonde began pulling greasy cheeseburgers, fries and onion rings out of a paper bag and Jules couldn't help but chuckle. 

"What?" 

"Nothing," Jules teased her. "I was just wondering if you're allergic to salads or something." 

"Not at all," Leah disagreed and pulled the top off of her burger and pointed dramatically to the single piece of wilted lettuce that was buried under a couple pieces of bacon and stuck to the melted cheese. "See? Salad." 

This caused both women to laugh. Jules was trying to get used to this new side of Leah. The blonde seemed much more relaxed and outgoing this morning. It made her come across as much less intimidating. They shared the secret smile of lovers who had toe-curling sex and then focused on the serious task of thoroughly enjoying all of the fat, carbs and calories lying on the table before them. They ate mostly in silence. Jules was doing everything she could not to think about what was waiting for them in DC when a random thought suddenly popped into her head. 

"So tell me something," Jules said before taking a bite of an onion ring. "What was so funny back at the diner?" 

Leah shrugged as she chewed on some cheeseburger. "I don't remember." 

"Bullshit," Jules grinned with her mouth full and waited until she swallowed before continuing. "I'm pretty sure you don't forget much of anything. Come on...tell me." 

"I just had a thought that struck me as funny," Leah finally explained. 

"So tell me what it was." 

"It was no big deal," Leah took a long drink of her chocolate milkshake. "It was actually kind of stupid." 

"So just tell me already." 

"Alright, fine" Leah finally agreed. "As you were enlightening me to your current predicament and made sure to include all that stuff about those women you had been with, it just kind of occurred to me that you had fucked your way into being fucked." 

Jules raised her eyebrows and sat back in her chair. She looked at Leah as an embarrassed smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. "Really?" 

"Like I said," Leah shrugged regretfully. "It was stupid. It was just something that struck me as funny at the time." 

"Oh, I get it," Jules nodded in exaggerated appreciation. "I can see how it was funny." 

"Yeah, you seem real amused." 

"No, it's not that," Jules slowly explained. "I thought I was just telling you what happened...I didn't mean it to come across as bragging or anything." 

"Yes, you did," Leah snorted a laugh. "You were totally bragging." 

"No, I wasn't," Jules defended herself. "Seriously, I was just trying to give you the whole picture." 

"Really?" Leah rolled her eyes. "You felt like I needed to know that your life is like the forum of Penthouse?" 

"No, that's not what I meant," Jules went on. "I guess I wanted you to know what you were dealing with...that it was personal." 

"Is that what that was?" Leah asked in an innocently high tone of voice. 

"Yes, it was," Jules agreed absently as she suddenly realized that she had a silly smile on her face. She had been thinking that the blonde's subtle southern drawl was one of the cutest things she'd ever heard and she found it really attractive. Wait...what? Where in the world did that sappy thought come from? 

"You're so full of shit," Leah added with another chuckle and a shake of her head. 

"I am so not," Jules argued. "Why would I lie?" 

Leah fixed her with a hard look with one eyebrow raised, but said nothing. 

"What?" Jules insisted, feeling self-conscious. "At the time, it made sense." 

"I know," Leah finally giggled and popped the last fry into her mouth. "I'm really just teasing you." 

"You are?" Jules asked doubtfully. 

"I was," Leah grinned. 

"Ugh! You were making feel bad," Jules frowned in mock anger. "You suck so bad right now!" 

"I know," Leah agreed and was rather proud of herself for getting Jules to talk and focus on anything but DC. She decided to try and get her to keep going. "So when did you know?" 

"Know what?" 

"You know," Leah looked at her like it was obvious. 

"What?" Jules stopped just as she was about to take her last bite of cheeseburger and raised her eyebrows. 

"That you were a lesbian." 

"Oh...I'm not a lesbian." 

"Huh?" Leah was confused, but then suddenly nodded in recognition. "Ahhhh...I get it. You date both men and women. You're bi." 

"No," Jules disagreed. "I'm not bi...I mean I don't really date, but you know. Just women." 

"Just women?" Leah looked at Jules suspiciously like the redhead had to be getting back at her. "But you're not a lesbian?" 

"That is correct," Jules nodded in agreement. 

"So you're saying that you are not gay?" 

"Yes," Jules agreed and then looked thoughtful as she sucked on the straw of her milkshake. Finally she set the cup down and responded. "Yes, as in no, I'm not gay." 

Leah suddenly laughed out loud at that, a full on belly laugh. 

"What's so funny?" 

"What...you...said..." Leah managed to say between laughs. 

"Why is that funny?" 

Leah couldn't respond as she doubled over holding her stomach in uncontrollable laughter. 

"Hey, I'm serious," Jules tried to explain. "Stop laughing at me." 

"My...goodness...," Leah continued with tears streaming down her cheeks. When she was finally able to breathe, she stopped laughing long enough to ask, "Do you even realize what you just said?" 

"What?" Jules asked and then quickly added, "I mean, yes I know what I said, what about it?" 

"Seriously?" Leah asked as she continued to giggle intermittently. "I mean, you're not interested in men. You only go out with women...and then we...Last night. And this morning...but - you're not a lesbian?" 

"Well," Jules scowled in thought. "No. I'm not." 

"Wait," Leah said and stopped giggling as the humor quickly began to fade. She caught her breath and sat up straighter. "You're being serious." 

Jules thought this was the perfect time to open up and just be honest. Instead, she went ahead and said, "Damn right, I'm serious." 

"And how exactly does that compute?" 

"I guess," Jules started to explain as she picked at the remains of her sandwich. "Well, it's just sex to me." 

"Excuse me?" Leah could hardly believe her ears. "It's just sex?" 

"What do you want me to say? I really like sex," Jules stared at the table. "And I...like sex with women." 

"That's actually..." Leah struggled to find the right words. "...really fucked up." 

"I don't think it's fucked up at all," Jules shot back defensively. Deep down, a big part of her knew that was far from being the truth, but for some reason that fear she had felt last night had complete control of her mouth right now. "I look at it as just being practical." 

"Practical?" Leah pursed her lips as she tried to hide the fact that her feelings were deeply hurt right now. "So let me get this straight - it's just about sex for you then? Nothing else?" 

"Yeah, pretty much," Jules confirmed, but found it hard to look Leah in the face. "I guess I'm just an in-the-moment kind of girl, ya know?" 

"No, I don't know," Leah replied stiffly and stood up. She started to clean up the remains of their meal. "I actually have no idea what that means." 

"What's wrong?" Jules asked quietly and even though she already knew the answer, she asked the question anyway. "Why are you upset with me?" 

"Nothing's wrong," Leah replied quickly and continued cleaning up. "I'm not upset." 

"You obviously are," Jules insisted. 

"Just drop it," Leah stood up tall and warned her quietly without looking at her. Suddenly that aura of the fierce, intimidating person Jules had first met was firmly back in place. "We need to get going." 

Without another word, Jules got up and went into the bathroom to get dressed. 

**** 

After checking out of the motel, the two women loaded up the SUV and began the four hour trip to DC. Leah drove and except for the occasional comment or question about directions, they listened to the radio and traveled in silence. Jules started to speak up at least six different times - to explain...to apologize...to try and make things right, but couldn't seem to find the words. She knew she needed to try and make Leah understand what she had meant and why she had said what she said...she just didn't know how. 

Leah drove east on Interstate 68 and a few hours later finally got them headed south on Interstate 270. Traffic got heavier as they got closer and closer to the capital. Leah tersely explained that once they got into DC proper, they were going to need to ditch the vehicle. Jules just nodded her head obediently and didn't ask why and Leah offered no further explanation. As Leah cautiously drove through the District of Columbia, Jules stared out of the passenger window miserably wishing she could somehow go back and get a do-over of this morning in the motel. 

The tall blonde found a hotel she was vaguely familiar with and pulled into The Dupont Circle Hotel parking garage. She drove slowly around, hunting for just the right spot. She finally found one deep in a corner that was about as inconspicuous as they were going to get and backed the SUV into it. She left it idling. She hesitated for a moment and then explained what they were doing without looking at Jules. 

"We can't drive around in this traffic with any expectation of being as mobile as we might need to be. No one will notice the Jeep for a few hours or even until tomorrow, so we might get lucky if we need it again. For now, we either walk or take a cab." 

"Okay," Jules nodded her understanding. 

Leah shut the engine off and took the key out of the ignition. Once they were out, Leah waited for Jules to walk around to the driver's side. Leah held the key up so Jules could see it and then placed it under the driver's side rear wheel well. She looked back at Jules with a serious expression. "Just in case." 

Jules nodded again. She looked scared. 

Leah nodded back. "Let's go." 

Jules silently followed her traveling companion out of the parking garage and around to the front of the hotel. Leah stopped walking and looked up and down the street. "You're going to need to call Atwood and find out for sure when he's going to be in his office." 

"Okay," Jules nodded wide-eyed and just stood there waiting for Leah to tell her what to do. 

Leah turned around and looked at the entrance to the hotel. She pursed her lips in thought and then moved closer to talk quietly. "I want you to use the hotel's phone, but you'll need a little privacy." 

"How do I do that?" 

"It's been a few years since I was here," Leah squinted her eyes as she recalled, "so I don't know if the house phone will be where it used to be or if it will allow you to call out without a room number...so you'll have to go to the front desk." 

"What am I supposed to say?" 

"Act like you're in a hurry," Leah explained in a low voice as she casually looked around. "Demand the use of a phone like you're an important guest. Toss out there that you've lost your cell phone and don't have time for all this." 

"I need to act rude?" Jules asked doubtfully. 

"Yeah, a little bit," Leah confirmed. "But not so much that they won't help you." 

"So just a little rude?" 

"Yeah, a little bit," Leah nodded. "More hey-I'm-a-guest-and-I'm-really-in-a-hurry bitch rather than I'm-just-a-bitch-all-the-time bitch." 

"Alright," Jules replied and gave Leah a funny look at the choice of words. "I guess I can do that." 

"You'll do just fine," Leah said neutrally, but allowed herself to childishly enjoy the dig a little anyways. 

"Uh-huh," Jules scowled at her and walked towards the lobby doors. 

Leah turned around and watched the street for a couple of minutes and then Jules was back standing beside her. Jules didn't say anything as she started buttoning up her shirt with a satisfied smirk on her face. Leah looked down at the generous cleavage until it disappeared behind the material of the woman's blouse and then moved her eyes back up to Jules's face. 

"Well?" 

"Piece of cake," Jules replied with more confidence than she actually felt. "College kid couldn't take his eyes off my chest, so I played it up a little and he let me use the phone. No problem." 

"I guess whatever works," Leah said dismissively. "Did you get hold of your boss?" 

"Technically he's not my boss anymore and no, he was in a meeting," Jules sighed. "I didn't know if it would be too suspicious to ask about his schedule or not, so I didn't." 

"But he's on site?" 

"I...I think so," Jules frowned. "I mean, his secretary didn't say where the meeting was or anything, but I assume it was in the building." 

"We can't work off an assumption, Jules," Leah sighed heavily. Jules realized that was the first time Leah had spoken her name since they'd left the motel earlier that morning. "We'll have to wait an hour or so and then you can try calling again." 

"I'm sorry, Leah," Jules replied quietly. "I should have asked." 

"It's no big deal," Leah shrugged it off. She looked across at the street at the café on Connecticut Avenue and dipped her chin at it. "We can wait over there." 

**** 

Sitting on a secluded lot in Falls Church, VA was a thirty thousand square foot home that was more reminiscent of a hunting lodge rather than a mansion. The lodge-like structure was specifically designed by the owner to be the ultimate in luxury, comfort and convenience while maintaining that authentically rustic feel. The athletic looking man with the thick neck and squinty eyes standing next to the Land Rover out front thought it looked like a log cabin on steroids. He looked down as the cell phone in his hand vibrated. 

He answered it with a simple greeting and listened intently to what was being said. 

He was dressed in a white golf shirt, khakis and hiking boots and topped the outfit off with a navy blue sport coat that was tailored so the bulge of the sidearm on his hip wasn't easily visible. The owner of the house liked his staff to be dressed appropriately when he was entertaining. Another man dressed the same way stood beside him. They not only dressed alike, but the second man was similar enough in build and demeanor that with some hair dye he could have been the first man's stunt double. The second man stood with his hands on his hips watching his co-worker do nothing but stand very still as he held the phone to his ear. 

The man on the phone finally nodded his chin once and replied, "Roger that." 

The second man looked at his co-worker expectantly. 

"We caught a break," the first man announced as he reached for the passenger side door handle of the Land Rover. The second man circled around the front of the vehicle to the driver's side. They closed their doors virtually at the same time. 

"Heading?" the second man asked as he turned the key in the SUV's ignition. Without waiting for directions he put the car in gear and smoothly maneuvered his way through all of the other luxury cars and SUV's that lined the circular drive in front of the mansion. Once clear, he quickly began accelerating down the steep, winding drive. 

"Dupont Circle Hotel," the first man nodded grimly as they pulled away from the log-cabin mansion. 

**** 

Jules and Leah followed the waiter outside to the patio area and took a seat at their table. 

The table was under the shade of a large umbrella and the chairs were comfortable enough. It also offered them a good view of the street and surrounding shops. They waiter took their order and disappeared. They simply sat and waited in silence. In a few minutes he reappeared with a full pot of coffee, a pair of mugs and a small plate of scones. They sat and drank coffee for a while. They each nibbled on a scone and drank some more coffee. Thirty minutes later they were finished with the tasty treats, so they sat and watched the street and sipped more coffee. They basically sat and avoided looking at each other until Jules finally set her coffee cup down with a clatter and sighed loudly. 

"Please talk to me." 

"What about?" Leah asked flatly as her eyes continued to scan the streets. 

"Come on, Leah," Jules implored. 

"Come on what?" Leah said a little more tensely than she meant to. She closed her eyes for a moment and then cleared her throat. "Look, I'll get you to Atwood's office safely, just like I said I would." 

"And...that's it?" Jules asked. 

"Yeah," Leah replied slowly. "That's it." 

"What about..." Jules started to say and stopped. 

Leah had suddenly sat up a little straighter and put her coffee cup down. The blonde's eyes narrowed a little as she stared at a dark Land Rover that pulled up in front of the hotel across the street. The hotel Jules had made the call from. She watched an athletic looking man with close-cropped hair get out of the SUV and walk into the lobby of the hotel with his head on a swivel. She immediately noticed the bulge under his jacket and knew it was a gun on his hip. She was all too familiar with the type. Not good. 

"What is it?" 

"Come on," Leah stood up and dropped a twenty on the table. She watched as another man got out of the Land Rover. Damn. Same type of guy as the first one, fit, short hair and paying attention to his surroundings. He stood by the vehicle and started scanning the streets and nearby shops. Leah's movements were deliberate and casual so she hopefully wouldn't draw the man's attention. She waited for Jules to stand up before turning and walking calmly towards the main door that led to the interior of the café. 

"What is it?" Jules whispered to her nervously. 

"Just keep moving," Leah told her reassuringly. "Everything's going to be fine." 

Jules was about to ask something else when Leah's hand found her elbow and she steered Jules away from the front entrance and through one of the nearby doors that said 'Employees Only'. Leah took the lead as they walked through a service area and then on back into the kitchen. They got some strange looks, but no one seemed too interested in questioning the tall blonde woman who was moving with such determination. 

Leah spotted a rear entrance that looked like it was used for receiving incoming shipments. She let Jules get in front of her and directed the redhead towards it. They maneuvered their way around boxes of produce and fifty pound bags of coffee beans. Jules kept nervously looking over her shoulder to make sure Leah was behind her. At the door, Leah stepped in front of Jules and hit the push bar and held the door open while she turned her head and did a quick check behind them. So far, so good. She stepped out behind Jules and nearly ran into the back of the redhead. 




The Retrieval... Ch. 02



They were in a narrow alley behind the café. Directly behind them the alley dead-ended into the back of another building. The café's dumpster was butted up against the brick wall. Standing in front of them at the entrance of the alley was the same scary looking man from the Land Rover which was why Jules had stopped short. He was dressed business casual in a coat and polo shirt, but he didn't look like any businessman Jules had ever seen. Leah gently pulled on Jules's arm until the redhead was standing behind her. 

What followed was one of the strangest thing Jules had ever seen in her life. 

Without a word Leah and the scary businessman walked directly at each other and then the man reached out like he was trying to poke Leah in the throat. The blonde acted like she was swatting at some kind of insect, but instead of an insect it was the man's arm that was swatted aside and then she swatted his other arm. Leah also slapped him on the side of his head. Next Leah lifted her foot and tapped it against the scary man's leg. The man backed off a step and gave Leah a mean look. 

After that, things got really confusing as it looked like Leah and the stranger came together again and began shuffling back and forth like they were dancing and playing some crazy, dangerous version of patty cake at the same time. Their hands were a blur, but the sounds of flesh meeting flesh and grunts and heavy breathing were loud. From what Jules could see there was blood running down the side of the man's head from his ear and he was sort of limping. 

All of a sudden it looked like Leah did a sudden bow from her waist towards the man and the guy went to his knees. Leah brought her knee up and then he was flat on his back and Leah bent down to pick something up the guy had dropped. 

**** 

Leah gently pulled on Jules's arm until the redhead was standing behind her. 

Leah met the hard stare of the man at the end of the alley. He didn't draw his weapon, so in some kind of silent, mutual agreement they both started walking purposefully towards each other at the same time. The man closed the last step by lunging and trying to catch her in the throat with a leading knife-hand strike. She surprised him with how smoothly she parried it by using her left wrist and palm to redirect the jab. She surprised him even further when she countered it by coming right back in and palm striking his ear. She also grabbed his ear and gave it a yank while she blocked the man's follow-up strike with his other arm with the outside of her right forearm. 

As the man backed off and recovered his position, Leah saw that she had nearly ripped the guy's ear completely off and it was hanging down grotesquely against the side of his head. He seemed to be caught off guard for a second by her level of skill in close quarters combat. He feinted high, but Leah didn't fall for it and landed a solid foot check against his knee as he started to lift his leg for a low line kick. He grimaced and she knew she had caused some damage. Frustrated he launched a series of short, heavy strikes with his fists and elbows that were meant to overwhelm her and end the confrontation. 

Leah smoothly moved her feet to change her position and remove herself from his angle of attack. She used her palms and forearms to proficiently block, parry and redirect each of his strikes. As she swept his final strike aside with her palm it caused the man to overextend which left his centerline exposed. Leah saw her split-second opportunity to go on the offensive. She knew that many amateurs often made the mistake of trying to use their neck as the fulcrum, but Leah instead made her neck as stiff as she could by flexing every muscle in her neck, shoulders and upper back as she rapidly swung her entire upper body forward into the head-butt. 

The man was completely stunned on the impact of the top of her forehead with his face. He immediately dropped to his knees as blood exploded out of his ruined nose. He was just starting to bring his hands up to futilely try and protect himself, but Leah didn't hesitate as she put all of her bodyweight into the vicious Muy Thai knee strike. It connected solidly with the man's jaw and lifted him far enough up into the air to cause him to flip over backwards to land flat on his back, out cold. 

Leah was breathing heavily from the exertion and adrenaline and then her face darkened into a scowl when she saw the syringe roll away from his side. It must have fallen out of the man's coat pocket. 

She bent over and picked it up. 

**** 

"What is that?" Jules asked as she cautiously came up behind Leah. 

"Looks like a little present for you," Leah said with a trace of disgust. She flipped the cap off of the needle with her thumb and without hesitation stabbed it into the unconscious man's thigh and depressed the plunger. 

"He was going to drug me?" Jules asked with wide eyes. 

"Either that or poison you," Leah said in a matter-of-fact tone as she broke off the needle in the man's thigh, tossed the rest of the syringe aside and stood up. She grabbed Jules's hand and started walking towards the end of the alley. 

"Wait!" Jules said and pulled her hand away from Leah's as she stopped walking. She cast a panicked look over her shoulder at the man lying in the alley. "Poison? Leah - did you just kill that man?" 

"Jules," Leah said with her teeth clenched and reached over and grabbed the redhead's hand again and started half-walking / half-dragging her towards the entrance to the alley. "We need to go." 

"But we can't -" 

"Jules!" Leah said firmly and stopped to look the redhead in the eyes. "We have to keep moving. Do you understand? I will keep you alive, but we need to go...Now." 

Jules went pale and nodded her head up and down quickly. They made it to the end of the alley, turned right and disappeared into a passing crowd of tourists, heading in the opposite direction of the hotel. 

**** 

The handsome man who owned the log cabin on steroids was very pleased with himself. 

A few weeks ago he had casually suggested that The Council would be more than welcome to use his home for their next get together and was pleasantly surprised when word was sent that they would take him up on his offer. The only thing this could mean was that they were feeling him out, testing him to see if he was the right kind of man to be invited to join their group as a full member. It was about time. He'd had his fill of playing the role of fixer for these men. In his heart he knew he was their equal and deserved that kind of respect. 

This secret group of more than a dozen politicians, military leaders and business tycoons were currently sitting around the long oak table in his formal dining room smoking Gurkha Black Dragons and finishing their second bottle of Macallan 1926. This was after a lunch of fresh venison steaks, Maine lobsters and every kind of fancy side-dish his staff could whip up. The entire afternoon would end up costing him well over three hundred grand, but it would be money well spent if it helped him get that elusive invitation. He tried not to frown as his head butler approached from the side door. 

The man-servant bent over and quickly whispered in his ear that he had an urgent phone call. It had to be important as the head butler had worked for the handsome man for over a decade and knew just how important this dinner was. The handsome man smiled and dismissed the butler. He knew he was receiving more than one inquisitive look from some of his guests at the interruption which was a break in their normal protocol. 

"My sincerest apologies, gentlemen." The handsome man announced as he wiped his mouth on a linen napkin. He set his cigar down in the crystal ashtray and scooted his chair back. With another polite nod of his head he excused himself from the room. He went out into the hallway through that same side door and grabbed the encrypted cell phone off of the silver tray that another of his servants offered him. He cocked one eyebrow as he brought the phone up to his ear. 

"Yes?" He listened intently. He pursed his lips as he took in the latest development. 

"That's very disappointing," he observed. "Stand by and I'll get back to you." 

He hung up and looked casually over his shoulder. In his dining room sat some of the most powerful men in the country. Men that did not take kindly to being disappointed by not having their instructions carried out. He hadn't failed them yet and he certainly wasn't about to start now. Not when he was so close. The man stood looking at the phone for another moment considering his options and then pushed one of the speed dial functions. 

"This is Mr. Smith," the handsome man greeted whoever picked up on the other end. "Please run a system search and locate the asset Loki. Advise me of his current location as soon as possible...No, not yet. I just want him ready to go and on standby for now." 

**** 

The two women eventually slowed their pace and tried to blend in with the meandering crowds. 

They ended up walking aimlessly around for over an hour. Leah used that time and the casual physical activity to let the adrenaline wear off and also to give Jules the opportunity to calm down. They kept walking until they ended up near the National Gallery of Art. Leah spotted a vendor parked on the street and went over to the food truck and purchased two bottles of water and a couple of oranges. She took Jules by the hand and led her over to sit down on a bench across from the Capitol reflecting pool. 

The tall blonde insisted that Jules drink at least half the water and eat the fruit. They sat and ate and drank in silence. Jules mechanically put pieces of orange in her mouth and chewed on them without really tasting them. She felt numb and couldn't believe that had just happened. Leah sat and chewed and sipped and thought about how quickly those men had been able to locate them. 

"I need to ask you a question," Leah finally broke the silence. 

"Okay." 

"But I need you to really think about what I'm asking you," Leah continued. "I don't want you to jump to conclusions or get defensive." 

Jules steadied herself and mentally committed to keep an open mind. "Okay. Ask me." 

"Do you trust Atwood?" Leah asked. "I mean - do you really trust him, Jules?" 

Jules considered the question carefully. She turned and looked Leah in the eyes and began to softly explain how long she had known Hank Atwood, what all he had done for her in her career and how many times he had gone to bat for her when she had screwed up including this last time. Finished Jules took a deep breath and then slowly let it out before saying, "Yeah...I trust him." 

"Okay," Leah took her own deep breath and looked up at the sky as she sighed. "That doesn't mean that I trust him, but I am going to trust you. With what you just told me, none of this is making sense." 

"What isn't?" 

"How those men found us by the hotel so quickly." 

"Do you think they had it under surveillance?" Jules suggested. 

"No," Leah disagreed. "I pulled that place out of thin air. There's no way they could have known we'd be going to that hotel." 

"Could they have Hanks' office bugged or something?" 

"I guess it's possible," Leah scowled. "But I highly doubt it. It's a lot harder to do than what you see in the movies...Besides, I'm sure y'all deal with all kinds of secret shit and SOP would be for the entire building to be swept weekly if not daily." 

"True," Jules agreed. She stared at her shoes for a minute and then asked quietly, "Can I ask you a question now?" 

"Go ahead," Leah said and leaned forward on the bench so her forearms were on resting on her knees. 

"Do you think that man in the alley is dead?" 

"Don't know," Leah said simply. "Don't care." 

Jules waited for her to say something else, but the blonde woman didn't. Leah just sat there looking off into the distance. Jules tentatively reached out her hand and let it rest on Leah's arm. "Why don't you care, Leah?" 

Leah turned her head and looked at Jules's hand and then let her eyes move up to look into the redhead's face. She finally spoke. "He was going to hurt you, Jules. He was going to kill you." 

"I -" Jules started to say, but Leah cut her off. 

"The moment he accepted that assignment," Leah said quietly but with a touch of menace in her voice, "he made his decision. He knew exactly the kind of situation he was putting himself in. You didn't. You didn't ask for any of this." 

"True, but -" Jules tried again. 

"But nothing...this is my world," Leah continued, the tension rising in her voice. "Nice people like you don't belong in it...Its ugly, it's nasty and it's dark. Decisions are made and people end up dying for those decisions. That piece of shit made the decision that he was going to end your life. For what? Money? Because somebody told him to? Well...I stopped him. That was my decision. I chose you over him. That's why I really don't care if he's dead, Jules...I chose you." 

"Oh," was all Jules could manage. She was so caught off guard by what Leah said that her brain was reliving the fact that she could have been killed all over again. She remembered seeing that syringe on the ground and her hands started to shake. She drew a quivering breath and felt her eyes start to water. 

"Shhhh," Leah suddenly sat up and gently pulled Jules into her arms. "Hey, I've got you. You're safe...shhhh..." 

Jules couldn't stop shaking and ended up sobbing into Leah's shoulder as the blonde patted her back and whispered reassurances in her ear. A few minutes later, Jules was sniffling and hiccupping and trying to wipe the snot off of Leah's shirt. It ended up making an even bigger mess and then the two women started laughing and hugging and laughing some more. Leah closed her eyes as Jules clung to her and was amazed all over again at how absolutely perfect their bodies felt pressed up against each other. 

Then Leah remembered their conversation in the motel room and pulled away. She resumed her position of forearms on knees and went back to looking at the water, her laughter long gone. 

"Why did you pull away?" Jules asked as her smile faded as well. 

Leah didn't say anything. She just dropped her head for a moment and shook it a few times. 

"I'm not very good at this," Jules admitted and slumped back on the bench. "I don't know what to say." 

"I think you said it all at the motel," Leah replied quietly. 

"Ouch...guess I deserved that," Jules mumbled and then said a little louder, "Look, I'm sorry, okay?" 

"Don't say you're sorry for being honest," Leah corrected her. "Never apologize for telling the truth." 

"Well, then my apology stands," Jules shrugged and wiped at her nose. "Will you accept it?" 

Leah sat back and turned a little towards Jules. She studied the redhead's face for a few moments. "Yes. I accept your apology." 

Jules smiled. "Thank you." 

"Why did you say all those things?" Leah asked quietly. 

Jules smile fell and she shrugged and looked down. "I don't really know." 

"Did you say them to hurt me?" 

Jules shrugged again as she felt fresh tears start to well up in her eyes. 

That look told Leah it had all been a front. It was a mask Jules wore to try and protect herself. 

Leah had just caught a peek behind that mask and could see there was obviously a great deal of emotional pain this woman was hiding from. The tall blonde immediately felt guilty. This whole situation wasn't fair for Jules and it wasn't helping that Leah was taking advantage of it by being confrontational. Leah also knew they needed to worry about their current situation and having deep, emotionally intense conversations wasn't going to help either of them stay alert. 

"You know what?" Leah said suddenly and stood up. "This isn't the time or place to get into this." 

Jules's eyes looked up in surprise at the unexpected reprieve. 

Leah flashed that familiar half-smile and held out her hand until Jules took it. "We'll talk about it later." 

"Okay," Jules let out a deep sigh of relief. 

Leah turned around and pulled Jules close. She could not get over at just how perfect Jules's body felt against her own. Still holding Jules's hand, Leah brought the other one up to touch Jules's cheek. Leah hesitated as she seemed to be searching for something within the depths of those green eyes. Leah drew even closer and pressed her lips to the redhead's. The kiss was like the one from this morning...sweet and soft and powerful. But this time there seemed to be an underlying heat. Jules liked that. She moaned a little and surrendered her mouth to the brief exploration of Leah's tongue, but then the blonde pulled away and straightened up. 

"Yep," Leah cleared her throat and regained her composure. "We'll definitely continue this later." 

Breathless, Jules could only nod in agreement. 

**** 

Eventually they got themselves sorted out and straightened up and Leah reminded Jules that they still needed to call Atwood's office again. The two women walked down the block and hailed a cab. Exhaustion from the day's events was starting to settle in and Jules was having a hard time fighting it. She let herself lean over until she was resting her head against Leah's shoulder and closed her eyes. Leah squeezed her hand to let her silently know that it was okay to rest. 

"Leah?" Jules said quietly with her eyes still closed. "Are you still upset with me?" 

"No, I'm not upset," Leah squeezed her hand again reassuringly. "Everything's going to be okay. We'll talk about it later." 

"Leah?" 

"Yes, Jules?" Leah answered patiently and lowered her head down so she could hear. 

"Thank you," Jules whispered and then offered her a tired smile. 

Leah returned the smile and paused to plant a soft, tender kiss on Jules's forehead. She wasn't going to let anything happen to this woman. Leah turned her head and stared out the window of the taxi and allowed herself to think about the past...or at least parts of it. She knew what she was capable of when she truly believed in her mission. She was willing to do whatever it took to ensure Jules's safety. Unfortunately, these assholes had no idea just how far she was willing to go and exactly what she was willing to do to protect Jules. 

Leah leaned forward and asked the cab driver to take them to the nearest pay phone. 

"Pay phone?" the man gave her a look like she was crazy. "This ain't a DeLorean, lady, and I ain't Michael J. Fox. Where the hell am I going to find a pay phone?" 

Leah sighed. "Then just take us to Union Station, please." 

"That I can do," he nodded with a smirk and then muttered something about the eighties under his breath. 

**** 

"Secretary Atwood?" Joanna's voice came over the intercom feature of the phone console sitting on the corner of his oversized desk. 

"Yes?" Atwood paused from reading over the stack of threat analysis updates sitting in front of him and looked expectantly at the little light that was flashing on his phone. 

"I have Agent Bradford on the line for you, sir," his administrative assistant announced. 

"Put her through," Atwood said immediately and snatched up the handset. "Jules?" 

"Hank," Jules breathed and he could almost feel the relief in the young woman's voice. "Thank God." 

"Julia," Hank Atwood lowered his voice. As hard as it was to hold back from peppering her with the dozens of questions that were almost burning his tongue, Atwood could also sense there was something wrong in the tone of his former analyst's voice. "What's going on?" 

Jules looked over her shoulder at Leah who was hovering behind her at the pay phone kiosk. Leah kept her head on a swivel watching the people flow past them in the great hall of the train station. She paused and shook her head at Jules. "Not over the phone." 




The Retrieval... Ch. 02



"Hank, I can't really go into this over the phone," Jules explained. "It's not safe." 

"Not safe?" Atwood repeated and his instincts kicked in. He'd been in the intelligence game long enough to know that you simply do not take chances. "Alright, Jules. How can I help?" 

"We need to come in, Hank," Jules whispered into the phone. "We need to meet in person so I can tell you everything." 

"Understood," Atwood replied. The "we" did not go unnoticed, but he didn't say anything. He glanced at his calendar and then at his Rolex. "Can you be in my office in two hours? Or do I need to send someone to pick you up?" 

"Your office in two hours?" Jules repeated for Leah's sake. Leah nodded. "Okay. Don't send anyone. We'll be there. And Hank?" 

"Yes?" 

"Will you please keep this to yourself? Just until we get there?" 

Hank Atwood sighed deeply. "Alright. I can do that." 

"Thank you, Hank," Jules breathed. 

Right outside of Atwood's office, his administrative assistant punched a button on her phone that disconnected her headset from being able to listen in on her boss's phone. She waited until the blinking light went out to indicate Secretary Atwood had ended his call. Once it went out she waited another minute and then punched the intercom button to Atwood's office again. 

"Secretary Atwood?" she spoke into the microphone piece of her headset. "I'm going to the ladies room. Is there anything you need me to take care of first, sir?" 

"Okay, thank you, sir," she said sweetly and hung up. She carefully took her headset off and laid it on her desk and grabbed her purse. 

She stopped to push her chair in and make sure it was aligned just so before stepping out into the hall. Atwood's secretary made sure the hallway was clear and then walked quickly down to the ladies restroom. Once inside, she checked each of the stalls to make sure she was alone and then went back to the door and locked it. She slipped into the far stall, sat down and took her cell phone out. She dialed the number she knew by heart and listened to it ring. 

"Mr. Smith?" she replied quietly into her cell phone when it was answered. "This is Joanna Richards from Secretary Atwood's office...I have an update for you...Yes, it's about that same problem I called about earlier." 

**** 

"Absolutely, Mr. Smith," the man nodded even though the affirmation couldn't be seen over a phone. "I'll take care of it, sir." 

The Team Leader disconnected the call on the encrypted cell phone. He walked through the kitchen area and hurried down the steps so that he could inform the rest of his team of the new direction their mission was about to take. At the bottom of the steps he paused to appraise the men currently under his command. His team was purposely small, but he knew he could count on each of the three men seated around the circular table in the basement of one of The Council's safe houses in Arlington, VA. 

He had to be able to count on them - this was his big chance. 

For months he'd been relegated to the second team. His team always ended up being assigned the support roles...they provided back-up, secured perimeters and maintained over-watch while the first team under Loki got to kick in doors, eliminate targets and get their hands bloody. They got all the praise and the lion's share of the rewards. Well, not today...today he'd be leading the first team. 

He knew this was a real-deal test. How could it not be? He literally didn't think he could made up any tougher, more stressful mission parameters than the ones his team was about to face. He wasn't worried though. Mr. Smith had been extremely helpful with some suggestions on how to navigate the most daunting of those obstacles. He liked Mr. Smith or whatever his name really was. The Team Leader felt like they were in similar positions in terms of having to prove themselves. 

"Heads up, men," he announced and took his seat at the table. "We just got some new Intel and we're rolling in ten." 

"Destination?" the man who handled transportation and logistics asked. His operational code-name was Magni, who had been one of Thor's sons. Each man was assigned a code-name from Norse mythology since they never used their real identities when working for The Council. 

"Before you get all puckered up, let me preface this with yes, I have a plan," the leader chuckled. He paused dramatically and then told them the address. Every pair of eyebrows shot up and one of the men whistled. 

The Team Leader nodded and let the other three men make their comments and pose their questions and allowed enough time so they could get it all out of their systems. When they were finished and ended up looking at him expectantly, the leader grinned and step by step, started laying out the plan of execution to once and for all take their target out. 

**** 

Exactly two hours later Jules Bradford flashed her Homeland Security-Logistics Agent credentials at the DHS Headquarters security desk. 

She followed the Security Officer's instructions and scanned her handprint and then showed him the Congressional subpoena. She and Leah had discussed at length the quickest way to gain access to the building and get to Atwood's office. Since Leah insisted that Jules shouldn't go anywhere alone, Jules had explained that rather than going through all of the protocols of registering Leah as an official visitor and waiting on the background check and security screening, it would be much quicker if they used the actual truth to their advantage. 

"This says she's supposed to testify today," the Security Officer observed and looked up at Jules. "Why are you bringing her here instead of the Senate building, Agent Bradford?" 

"Well...Analysis needs to clear a few points in her testimony, Officer Fox," Jules lied confidently after reading the man's nametag. "There might be an issue with some details relating to ongoing operations." 

"Okay then," Officer Fox nodded and was already looking at the next person in line behind her. "Make sure you escort her the entire time she's in the building, ma'am." 

"Absolutely," Jules smiled and took her credentials and the subpoena back from him as she turned towards Leah. "I won't let her out of my sight." 

"You're smooth," Leah commented quietly as they walked towards the elevators. "Remind me not to play poker with you." 

Jules nodded with a small smile as they walked, but didn't say anything. The finally reached the end of the hall and stood facing the bank of elevator doors in silence. Jules forced herself not to look around until an elevator on the end finally dinged and the doors opened. Jules managed to keep her cool until the elevator doors closed. As soon as they did she let out a quivering breath as she slumped against the wall. 

"Oh man, I thought I was going to have a heart attack." 

"Could have fooled me," Leah grinned and shook her head. "You did great." 

"Thanks," Jules replied shakily and managed a smile. 

"Hey," Leah reached out her hand and Jules took it. "It's almost over." 

Jules nodded and squeezed her hand. 

The elevator slowed and came to a stop on the third floor. The doors opened to an empty hallway. The women glanced at each other as they waited for the doors to close and resume its ascent. The doors remained open. They waited another twenty seconds before Jules reached over and mashed the 'doors closed' button and held it down. Nothing happened. She glanced over her shoulder at Leah with raised eyebrows. 

"I thought you said Atwood's office was on the fourth floor?" Leah asked with a frown. 

"It is," Jules confirmed. "I pushed four. I mean, you saw me push four, didn't you?" 

Leah nodded and took a couple of steps towards the open doors. She put her back against the wall and slid closer to the opening until she could see a short distance down the hallway. Her eyes scanned everything she could see for a few minutes and then she quickly darted past the open doors to the other side and did the same thing. 

"What?" 

Leah shook her head. "I really can't see anything." 

"Maybe the elevator just stopped working," Jules offered. 

"Maybe," Leah commented flatly without any conviction. 

"What do you want to do?" 

Leah seemed to make up her mind with a very small nod to herself and then looked at Jules. "I don't know if anything is going on or not, but it's always better not to take chances. We should take the stairs." 

"Sure," Jules agreed and followed Leah off of the elevator. 

Leah hesitated and Jules indicated the direction of the stairwell with a nod of her head. They walked down the hall and Jules thought it was really weird that all of the office doors were closed with the lights out. Then she noticed that there wasn't anyone in the hallway. No one stepping out to get coffee, no one headed to a meeting or to the bathroom. Jules was just about to mention this to Leah as they turned the corner and came face to face with two men wearing security uniforms. 

"Sorry, ladies," one of the men held out his hand to stop them like a traffic cop. "This floor is closed." 

The four of them just stood there looking at each other for a full five seconds. Leah took in a dozen details about these two men during that time and was rapidly running various action plans and counter moves through her head when all of a sudden Jules took a small step forward and put her hands on her hips. "Who the hell says this floor is closed?" 

The two men exchanged a look before the taller one spoke up. "Uh, we're Security, ma'am. Those are the orders." 

"Orders?" Jules frowned and looked from one of the men to the other. "From whom?" 

The same man cleared his throat. "Downstairs." 

"Well, those orders certainly didn't come from my office," Jules huffed. "So I'd like to know exactly who this person is downstairs that decides to close this floor to the Executive Secretary when I'm supposed to have a meeting with Rear Admiral Nunez in ten minutes." 

The two men exchanged another look before Leah urged Jules to start walking past them with a very subtle tug on her elbow and said quietly, "Ma'am, we should go down and straighten this out ourselves." 

Jules looked at Leah and then glared at the two men. "Yes, that is exactly what I intend to do." 

Jules continued to play the part by storming past them and stomping down the hall in her high heels with Leah striding right next to her. With every step, Leah subtly shepherded Jules to ease over until they were gradually hugging one side of the hallway as they walked. They passed a couple of offices and had almost reached a little alcove that had a small table in it upon which stood a full coffee service. The alcove was five feet from the entrance to the stairwell. Leah mentally figured if they could just get past the alcove, they could make it to the stairwell when one of the Security Officers behind them called out. 

"Excuse me, Agent Bradford?" 

"Yes?" Jules replied automatically out of sheer habit. She had stopped walking and was halfway turned around when she froze and closed her eyes. 

Leah came to a stop next to her and muttered, "Shit," under her breath. 

"I think you should come with -" the same Security Officer who had done all the talking to this point started to give instructions when something in Leah's peripheral vision made her instincts kick in. She shoved Jules into the little coffee nook and literally dove on top of her, forcing the redhead under the table just as three ragged holes appeared in the sheetrock where they had been stopped. 

"What the -" Jules urgently whispered, but Leah silenced her with a hand over her mouth as they crowded into the corner. Leah grabbed Jules's purse from where it had landed under the woman's thigh and ripped it open. She quickly dug around until her hand closed over the grip of Jules's service weapon. Leah knew she had maybe twenty seconds or less. Two more holes opened up in the recessed wall of the nook above their heads and the chalky drywall dust clouded into the air and slowly rained down on them. The dust was stinging Leah's eyes as she ejected the clip from Jules's SIG Sauer. She tapped the magazine lightly against her thigh and then slid it back in as quietly as she could until she felt it seat home with a click. She eased the slide back on the 9mm pistol. 

They were obviously dealing with professionals. Leah had recognized the faint click-clacking sound of the slide on the man's weapon. The fact that it could be heard over the muffled muzzle blast indicated at least one of these guys was using a suppressed weapon. She also knew from the lack of the whip-cracking noise of the rounds he had fired that he was also using subsonic ammunition. Leah knew from first-hand experience that there was only one reason anyone would use a suppressed firearm with subsonic ammunition. 

"Why is Security shooting at us?" Jules whispered wildly. 

Leah was wiggling down to get on her stomach and trying to get as low to the ground as she could. Jules gripped the back of her leg, demanding an answer and Leah tried not to lose her patience or her focus. As calmly as she could, she explained, "They aren't Security Officers, Jules. They're here to kill you." 

"What?" Jules squeaked. "Why?" 

Instead of answering, Leah took a deep breath, let it out slowly and eased out a little from under the table. She took another quick breath and then quickly rolled into the hall on the floor onto her back and took aim down the hallway. The first of the two men posing as a Security Officer was slowly advancing closer to their position with his weapon held up in front of him with two hands. The man's handgun had the fat tube of a sound suppressor attached to the end of the barrel. His eyes tracked Leah's movement, but before he could adjust his point of aim down, Leah squeezed the trigger twice, double-tapping him with one round in the upper chest and another in the throat. 

The report of Leah's weapon was ridiculously louder than their opponent's and the sound of the shots she fired reverberated off of the floor tiles and walls. Leah watched the man who had been about to shoot them as his weapon clattered to the floor and he reached up with both hands to claw at his throat that was just now beginning to gush blood. She didn't see anything else as she quickly rolled back under the table in the shallow alcove. The man's partner had been ten feet further back down the hallway and had reacted by firing several rounds that slammed into the floor where Leah had been laying. 

Leah was panting and blinking sweat and dust out of her eyes as she moved around to sit up with her back against the wall. She extended her arm so that just her hand reached around the corner of the wall. She blindly fired two more rounds in the direction of the other man. Jules was curled up into the corner as far as she possibly could with her hands over her ears. Leah touched her arm as she adjusted her position with a grimace and to make sure she was okay. 

"Leah," Jules whispered or at least it sounded like she was whispering since Leah's ears were ringing so badly. Leah read her lips. "You're bleeding." 

Leah looked down and saw that on the side of her blouse down near her beltline was a dark red blossom that was growing bigger the longer she looked at it. She pressed her hand against it. "Do you have a tampon in your purse?" 

"You need a tampon?" Jules asked with raised eyebrows. "Now?" 

Leah closed her eyes and gritted her teeth at the burning pain that was now flaring in her side. She swallowed hard and then opened her eyes and looked as calmly at Jules as she could. "Yes, Jules, I need a tampon...right now." 

Jules dug around in her purse and finally came up with the requested plastic wrapped tampon and obediently handed it to Leah. She watched as Leah paused to stick her arm out and fire two more rounds blindly down the hall and then ripped the tampon wrapper off with her teeth. She pulled the plastic tubes apart and dropped them as she freed the cotton cylinder. Leah held the tampon in her teeth by the little string on the end as she carefully pulled up her shirt. Jules actually felt a little sick as she watched Leah feel around and use the tail of her blouse to wipe blood away. The redhead's eyes went wide when without hesitation Leah stuffed the cylinder shaped piece of absorbent material into the hole that was in her side where most people would have a love handle. 

Jules was just about to make a comment when Leah held up a hand for silence and leaned forward to listen. The remaining fake Security Officer was talking into what Leah assumed was a either a cell phone or some type of hand-held radio. "Roger that, I repeat Hodr is down, Hodr is down. Be advised that the floor is secured but I have incoming." 

Neither Leah nor Jules could hear what the response was so either it was a cell phone or the man had an earpiece. He began talking again. "Negative on the medic. I repeat, negative on the medic. Yeah, copy that, Magni, Hodr was a good one... yeah, affirmative, I'll get him some payback soon enough...10-4. Repeat...I say again Magni, repeat that?" 

Again, the two women could not hear what was being said on the other end. Then they heard the man cuss quietly before saying, "Roger that, I confirm that Loki is on site. Be advised I copy to hold my position for Loki's arrival." 

Leah closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the wall. The smell of cordite, the burning ache of a bullet wound combined with the coded jargon and speech patterns the man had used caused dozens of memories to come rushing up into her mind's eye, each one fighting for her attention. Leah snapped her eyes open and blinked a few times. She did not have time for a walk down memory lane. She turned her head and looked at Jules. 

"Listen to me very carefully, Jules. We have to move, okay? We can't stay here." 

"Okay," Jules nodded shakily. 

"They're going to bring more men with guns up here and if we don't move, we die," Leah continued. "Do you understand? You move when I say move and you keep moving, okay?" 

"Okay." 

They heard the far off ping of the elevator doors opening and Leah braced herself against the wall, Jules's gun in one hand and Jules's hand in the other. Leah took a deep breath and let it slowly and took another and just as she was about to push off of the wall with the bottom of her foot to make their dash to the door of the stairwell, a voice from her past echoed down the hallway. 

"Don't tell me that's Artemis causing all this trouble," a man called out loudly in that same authoritative tone of voice that she remembered so well...that voice that was tinged with a flat Midwestern accent. Artemis was the Greek goddess of hunting and had been Leah's call sign on her last Op. 

"Rack?" Leah said softly and it felt like all the air had been sucked out of her lungs. She felt like she had suddenly fallen into some weird time-warped, mind-fucking dream. 

"What's a rack?" Jules was really confused. 

Leah looked at her blankly for a moment, but a sudden surge of pain from her wound served as a reality check that this was real and happening right now. She shook her head and said it louder. "Rack - is that you?" 

"The one and only, sweet cheeks," the voice chuckled. There seemed to be genuine affection in the man's tone. "I guess it's the proverbial small world and all that." 

"Obviously this is not a coincidence," the sarcasm quite evident in Leah's voice. 

"Obviously," he agreed and she could hear the grin in his voice. He actually seemed to be enjoying this. 

"What the hell, Rackley?" Leah drawled and then her voice grew louder. "Have you gone stupid or insane? I mean, seriously Rack...running an Op in a Federal building?" 

"What do you want me to say, sweet cheeks?" the voice replied. "Definitely not my decision." 




The Retrieval... Ch. 02



"Enough chit-chat already," the voice of the first man they had met getting off the elevator sounded off. The same one who had been dressed in the uniform of a Security Officer. Leah had killed his partner. "Are we gonna ghost this bitch or what?" 

"Shut the fuck up!" they could hear the man Leah had called Rackley viciously snarl. A heated exchange of muffled words followed that neither Leah nor Jules could quite make out. Then things grew quiet. 

Jules jumped and Leah's head snapped up when the unmistakable echo of a gunshot broke the tense silence. 

Leah snatched up Jules's purse and frantically dug through it until she started to produce the pieces of Jules's phone. She pressed the battery, sim card and phone into Jules's hand as she found each one and then mouthed the words "Call Atwood" at her. Jules nodded as Leah focused her attention back on her former team leader. 

"Everything okay over there, Rack?" Leah called out. 

There was another moment of silence until she suddenly heard that familiar chuckle of his. "Yeah, everything's just fine." 

She glanced at Jules who was pulling her phone charger out of her purse. She watched the redhead unplug the coffee machine and plug her phone up. Of course the phone would be dead. Leah grimaced and hoped she could keep stalling. 

"That didn't sound fine to me, but what do I know, right?" 

"That?" the man she called Rack laughed again. "Aw hell, you know...just a little difference of opinion. You remember how important employee relations are to me." 

"Is that what you're calling it now?" Leah asked and quietly ejected the magazine from her weapon. 

She only had six rounds left and she knew that Jules wasn't carrying extra magazines. Leah closed her eyes for a moment and tried to remember exactly how far the first tango had been from their position when she dropped him. Ten feet? Twelve? Shit. She would have considered risking it and trying to retrieve the dead man's weapon, but that was before Rackley showed up. She knew that plan wouldn't work...Rack was one of the best marksmen she had ever been around. 

"I wouldn't worry too much about it," Rackley called out. "Are you ready to talk or what, Leah?" 

Leah glanced down at Jules who was concentrating on her phone as she tried to power it on. Fuck, this was taking too long. Leah shook her head. "I can hear you just fine." 

"Leah," Rackley called out. "You know me. I prefer to look people in the eye when I talk to them. I guarantee your safety. Deal?" 

Jules looked up as she held the phone to her ear and vehemently shook her head. She tried to catch Leah's eyes and when she did she exaggeratedly mouthed the word "NO" to her. Leah kept looking at Jules as the redhead's attention was suddenly drawn to the phone and she covered half of her face as she began urgently whispering. Leah stood up and tucked Jules's weapon in the back of her pants before taking two steps out into the hallway holding her hands up. 

"Deal," she nodded and was suddenly looking down the hallway into the face of the man who had been her leader and her friend for the last six years of her career. 

Rackley looked older. He still had the lean muscled physique of an athlete on his six foot frame, but the short cropped hair was more grey than brown. That and the pronounced crow's feet made him look ten years older than he actually was. He was dressed in a black turtleneck, dark grey cargo pants and black boots. If it wasn't for the tactical vest and MP5 slung over his shoulder, he could have passed for an executive on a weekend excursion. 

"Man, are you sight for sore eyes or what," Rackley grinned. His eyes lit up with joy as he looked over his former protégé. His hand suddenly came up in a sharp chopping motion to his left as one of his men who was kneeling against the far wall adjusted his weapon. "I said hold your water, boys. The lady and I need to have a conversation." 

"Copy that," the guy muttered and lowered his weapon. 

Rackley turned his attention back to Leah and the smile popped right back up on his face. 

"Your show," Leah said coolly and slowly lowered her arms. "Talk." 

"Huh." Rackley frowned. 

"What?" 

"I just kind of thought you'd be," Rackley replied with a slight scowl of confusion. "I don't know, a little happier to see me or something." 

"Seriously?" Leah asked and gestured around at the dead bodies with just the slightest turns of her head. She stole a quick glance at Jules as she did so. The redheaded Fed was still under the table whispering into her phone and nodding her head. Leah thought she heard Jules say 'I understand' but couldn't be sure. 

"Look, I know..." Rackley began and his face clouded over for a second in what Leah thought was frustration. "The truth is I was left out of the loop on this. Otherwise, I would have handled it...differently." 

"Do you even know how ridiculous that sounds?" Leah asked. 

"What do you want me to say?" Rackley dipped his chin and held his arms up in a gesture of futility. "It is what it is, sweet cheeks." 

"Bullshit," Leah almost spat. "That's the lamest cliché you can use to get away with something like this." 

"Oh?" Rackley raised his head up. "And how's that?" 

"Since when did the man I know and respect become the trigger boy for some DC blowhard?" Leah continued and crossed her arms. "Come on, how is targeting a woman for sleeping with the wrong person ever going to fall under National Security? I mean, what the hell, Rack? What kind of mickey mouse bullshit are you into?" 

Rackley cocked his head a little the way a dog does when it isn't sure what its master wants. "What in the fuck are you saying?" 

"Don't," Leah snapped and pointed her finger at him. "Do not talk to me like I'm stupid, Rack." 

"Leah," Rackley softened his voice. "I literally have no idea what you're talking about." 

"Whatever." Leah replied and then stuck her chin out defiantly, "I'm not going to let you kill her." 

Rackley just raised both eyebrows. 

"Go ahead and bring the rest of your team up here," Leah challenged. "Maybe you'll meet your objective or maybe you won't. Just so you understand that to get to her, y'all are going to have to go through me...you know me, Rack. I guarantee it's going to be long day." 

"Okay," Rackley replied in that same softer tone of voice and took a step towards her. "Can I ask you a question?" 

"Go ahead." 

"What exactly do you think the objective is here?" 

Leah glared at him suspiciously. The Rackley she knew all too well wasn't above using psychological tactics and mind games to achieve mission success...but she also knew his demeanor and this seemed genuine. There was real confusion and dare she think it, concern on his face. She glanced around as if considering his question and saw that Jules was still whispering into her cell phone and nodding. 

"You've been tasked to eliminate Jules Bradford," Leah finally replied, surprised that she so easily fell back into using the terminology and lingo from her old life. 

Rackley pursed his lips and nodded thoughtfully. "And who assigned this tasking exactly?" 

"Does it matter?" Leah retorted and then huffed a sigh while Rackley patiently waited for her response. It was the same look he used to give her in the field when he wanted her to figure out things for herself rather than being told what to do. "I don't know...some asshole from the Sec-Def's office." 

Rackley nodded thoughtfully and then took another deliberate step towards her so that he had separated himself from the rest of his men. "Are you willing to just listen to me for a minute?" 

Leah didn't say anything for several seconds and then lifted a hand towards him with her palm up as if to say, go ahead. 

"I need you to understand that I was called into this cluster-fuck on the backside," Rackley explained and looked around trying to find the right words. "Obviously my employers thought there was a conflict of interest, so I wasn't privy to this Op or I would have squashed it from the jump and handled things my way." 

Leah scowled in confusion. "I don't understand." 

"Which I guess it's a good thing they sent the B Team," Rackley continued as if he hadn't heard her. "Otherwise, this thing could have gotten a lot uglier." 

"So now I guess it's my turn," Leah shrugged. "What the fuck are you talking about?" 

"You," Rackley said simply and paused as he took a long look into Leah's eyes. "You're the Op, sweet cheeks. These boys were tasked to eliminate...you." 

"Me?" Leah started to drop her arms but then winced and her hand automatically went to the wound in her side. "Why?" 

"Because my employers don't know you like I do," Rackley clarified. 

"What is that supposed to mean?" 

"They panicked, Leah," Rackley grimaced and shook his head. "Once they understood you were being subpoenaed by the Senate Intelligence Committee about...Andarab." 

"Andarab?" Leah spoke the name of the city north of Kabul, Afghanistan for the first time in over a year and her stomach immediately knotted up. 

"Yeah," Rackley sighed and ran a hand over his jaw. At just the mention of the location where their last Op together had taken place, Leah could see the same unease in his eyes that she knew was showing in her own. 

"Why would I be a target about..." Leah started to ask, but couldn't bring herself to say it again, "Why would I be a target?" 

"They couldn't risk the exposure." 

"What exposure?" 

"Your testimony...," Rackley said simply and there was real sympathy in his eyes, "...against me." 

Leah blinked her eyes a few times. Her mind took one tiny, baby-step towards the memory of Andarab and then she stopped herself. She just couldn't do it...so instead, she rapidly went over the timeline of the past few days in her head. It suddenly dawned on her that in all of the confusion of being arrested, the car fire at the police station and getting caught up in the details of Jules's story and their assumptions about everything...she never did ask about the exact specifics of the subpoena or what she was being called to testify about. Leah turned her head and looked down at Jules who was still under the table holding her cell phone to her chest in both hands. 

"Jules?" 

"Leah," Jules said quietly and stood up. She looked at the woman who she considered her friend and her lover. The woman who now had tears in her eyes. "I don't know anything about Andarab." 

"Did you know?" Leah asked quietly. 

"Leah," Jules tried to reason with her quietly. "I told you I was supposed to escort you back to DC to testify." 

Leah took a quivering breath. "Did you know I was supposed to testify against Rack?" 

"It doesn't say that..." Jules started to explain, but just couldn't bring herself to lie. She closed her eyes for a moment. "Not the details or his name, but...yes. I knew. It was off the record, but...I knew." 

Leah's face scrunched up in pain for the briefest of moments and then with a deep breath, she exhaled and her face took on an unreadable expression. A tear leaked out from the corner of her eye and ran down her cheek. She was still holding her side, so she brought her face down and shrugged her shoulder up to wipe the tear away on her blouse. She returned her gaze back to her former Team Leader. 

"So...what now?" 

"Well, I seems to have a position available," Rack offered her a tight grin and gestured the barrel of his weapon back towards the body of the man he'd shot earlier. "Need a job?" 

Leah shook her head and rolled her eyes with a tired smile. She literally didn't know whether to laugh or cry right now. She was so tired. She turned her head as Jules came up beside her and put both of her hands on Leah's forearm. 

"Leah," Jules said quietly. "I'm sorry." 

"I don't think this is the best time," Leah told her and moved to push her back towards the alcove. 

Jules wouldn't budge and gripped Leah's arm tighter. The redhead glanced up nervously at the emergency lighting unit over their heads and then back at Leah. "I know...but...Leah -" 

"Not now, Jules," Leah hissed and cut her eyes towards Rack. 

"Leah," Jules insisted. "Do you trust me?" 

"Uh, excuse me...ladies?" Rack interrupted and held his arms out. "We're kind of in the middle of something, are we not?" 

"Damn it, Leah," Jules whispered fiercely and gripped Leah's forearm even tighter to the point that it almost hurt the blonde. "I'm sorry. I...I don't...I'm...Leah, I love you." 

Everything around her seemed to fade away as Leah gave Jules her full attention. "What did you just say?" 

"I said I love you," Jules repeated with a scared look in her eyes. "So please, just trust me right now, okay?" 

"You do?" Leah was dumbfounded. 

"I do," Jules nodded and then took a deep breath and leaned her head in closer. "Please, Leah...if you care for me even just the tiniest little bit, please...close your eyes." 

"What?" 

"Close your eyes...Tight. Please?" 

"Why?" 

"Just trust me, okay?" Jules pleaded quietly. She gave Leah one last beseeching look and without letting go of Leah's arm, squeezed her eyes tightly shut and lowered her chin. 

Leah hesitated as she looked at Jules for another moment. She glanced up at Rackley who had taken another step forward. He had his hands on his hips expectantly and was watching them with an amused expression on his face. She looked back down at Jules and with a small sigh Leah finally relented and closed her eyes. 

A split second later the world beyond the shade of her eyelids lit up in a huge, dizzying purple flash. 

Leah suddenly felt weightless like the laws of gravity had been temporarily suspended. At some point a part of her brain haphazardly clicked on the correct answer that yes, she was in fact falling...but it didn't feel like any falling she'd ever done before. It was softer than that. It almost felt like...Jules said she loved me...Leah felt her cheeks tighten as her face tried to smile. She wanted to reach out and grab that thought as it flickered across her mind. 

She loves me. 

Leah stretched out her hand. She could have sworn her fingers were just about to make contact with the thought when the black turbulence of unconsciousness came rushing in on her like a waterfall. 

****



The Retrieval... Ch. 03



Author's Note: All I can say is wow - thank y'all so much for all of the wonderful feedback, comments and votes on the first two chapters of this story. I'm really happy that everyone seems to have taken a liking to Jules and Leah...they have been so much fun to write about. I also appreciate your patience -- the writing process does take me a little bit of time to get it right...so with that said, here is the final part of The Retrieval. One quick word of caution - you should probably read 01 & 02 before reading Ch. 03 - things will definitely make more sense if you do. Also keep in mind that this story is a complete work of fiction and everything is from my imagination, so any mistakes or missteps are definitely on me.

And of course this story includes sexually explicit material and is intended for adults, so if you are not at least 18 years of age or are offended by sexual material - then this ain't the place for you...for the rest of you, thank you for reading, feel free to comment and give feedback, please remember to vote - and I really hope you enjoy!

****

Everything around her seemed to fade away as Leah gave Jules her full attention.

"What did you just say?"

"I said I love you," Jules repeated with a scared look in her eyes. "So please, just trust me right now, okay?"

"You do?" Leah was dumbfounded.

"I do," Jules nodded and then took a deep breath and leaned her head in closer. "Please, Leah...if you care for me even just the tiniest little bit, please...close your eyes."

"What?"

"Close your eyes...Tight. Please?"

"Why?"

****

She was somewhere. Where?

It felt far away...but she wanted to wake up...

Wake up...WAKE UP! But her eyes felt so very heavy.

She also wanted to move...but her limbs felt weighted down.

She was quite sure she had to be lying in thick mud...or quicksand maybe?

It felt heavy...so tired...maybe she would rest for a while.

But wait...she smelled vegetation.

Was she in the jungle?

Not just vegetation, but floral...yeah, definitely flowers.

There were other smells...and sounds.

There was no mistaking that pungent odor of antiseptic.

She heard sounds...and she could feel things.

A continuous tone like insects.

Cicadas? No, cicadas don't beep...do they?

No...they don't. And that sound is beeping...definitely a soft beeping.

Voices? Hmmm...not sure if those were real or in her head.

She concentrated. Sheets.

Kind of scratchy...but they felt cool on her skin.

There was also pressure...on her fingers.

It felt like...yeah...someone was holding her hand.

She really hoped it was Jules.

****

"Jules," Leah whined. "I'm not sick."

"I know," Jules agreed as she walked past on her way to bringing in two more bulging bags of groceries. She set them on the kitchen island and immediately about-faced back towards the front door.

"Then stop treating me like I'm made of glass," Leah grumped at the redhead's back as she disappeared out the front door.

Jules reappeared in the doorway with two more plastic bags in hand. She gave the two serious looking security guards stationed outside a polite smile and kicked the door shut behind her with her foot. She was about to make the final trek to unload the last of the groceries in the kitchen when she noticed Leah was sitting up on the couch with her arms crossed and a scowl on her face. Jules blew a strand of auburn hair off of her forehead and set the bags down on the coffee table. She stood there with her hands on her hips for a moment before taking a seat next to the blonde amid the mountain of pillows and bunched up blankets.

"Leah?" Jules asked patiently. "Do we really have to have this conversation again?"

"I feel perfectly fine," Leah replied with exasperation.

"I know you do," Jules smiled and scooted closer. She ran her hand up and down Leah's back and her eyes shined with affection. "But remember what the doctor said? Forty-eight hours of complete bed rest."

Leah sighed dramatically and rolled her eyes before toppling over so that she was half-buried in the pillows and blankets. Her muffled voice replied, "Just to make sure...I know."

"It's only one more day," Jules encouraged her. "Twenty-four more hours and you've got your official doctor's release."

"It's actually eighteen hours and thirty seven minutes," the muffled voice corrected.

"Okay," Jules laughed softly. "I stand corrected. Now what can I make you for lunch?"

Leah suddenly sprang back up from the pillows and grabbed Jules pulling her into an embrace. She brought their faces close together and began lightly planting kisses all around the redhead's mouth as she replied, "I (kiss)...want (kiss)...you (kiss)...with (kiss)...extra (kiss)...sprinkles (kiss)."

"That is definitely on the menu," Jules grinned, but then reluctantly extricated herself from Leah's arms and stood up to elude the blonde's reach. "In eighteen hours and thirty seven minutes."

"Arrgghhh!" Leah dramatically growled and flopped back over into her little pillow and blanket lair. After a pause, her muffled voice announced, "I hate modern medicine."

Jules shook her head with a grin and grabbed the remaining bags of groceries from the coffee table. As she headed towards the kitchen the muffled voice called out after her with the correction.

"And it's now eighteen hours and thirty one minutes!"

****

It was getting late.

Well...late was a matter of perspective. For most people it was early evening, but it was already thirty minutes past the Congressman's usual dinner time. The Congressman and his driver had been sitting and waiting for twice that long. The old man liked his routine and hated being kept waiting. His irritation grew as they continued to watch the man dressed in sweats slowly amble down the sidewalk like he was in no particular hurry. The politician sighed as the man kept letting the dog run its leash out to sniff this and sniff that along the way.

The man walking the small dog was an employee of the Department of Homeland Security...that was the only thing the Senator knew about him and that was intentional. On the flipside, the only thing the DHS employee knew was that the man he had agreed to meet worked for the government. Of course that was all he would ever know as well. Operational security was paramount when handling The Council's business. It made perfect sense that if a resource literally didn't know another person's identity then he couldn't be compromised or forced to reveal that identity.

"Go ahead, Carl," the Congressman instructed from the back seat of the black Lincoln Town Car. His driver Carl had removed the license plates from the Town Car a few minutes earlier when they first spotted the man in the blue sweats walking the dog off in the distance as he faded in and out of the streetlights.

Carl flashed the headlights twice and the man stopped walking. Carl put the Lincoln in gear, pulled forward and passed the man going in the opposite direction. Carl slowed and pulled the big vehicle into a U-turn and then expertly eased the Town Car up alongside him. The man and his Pomeranian just stood and watched. The driver reached over to the front passenger door and opened it.

"Get in," Carl instructed.

The man hesitated. He squinted to try and see inside the vehicle. Then he stood up tall and turned his head and cautiously looked up to the end of the street. Then he did the same in the opposite direction. Carl let out a very small sigh at the pretense of tradecraft. Finally satisfied, the man reached down and grabbed the dog and climbed into the front seat.

Carl put a hand on the man's arm as he started to turn. "Face forward."

The man complied and sat looking out the windshield. The blacked out divider glass that separated the back seat from the front slid half-way down. The man nervously kept staring straight ahead, but couldn't help but see a shadowy silhouette in the dim reflection of the windshield.

"Talk," Carl prompted the man.

The dog yapped once and the man cleared his throat. "Um, I think there was the...uh...um, I believe -"

The burly driver slapped a thick, heavy envelope down on the man's thigh, but kept his hand on it. The dog lowered its head and began licking the driver's knuckles.

"Right," the man nodded and cleared his throat again. "So...um, the uh, the thing that your representative called me about earlier? That situation has changed...it's, uh, it's gotten a little complicated."

Carl looked up into the rearview mirror and the Congressman nodded. Carl turned his head towards the man. "Explain."

"Right," the man nodded and the little dog started yapping again. The man reached into the pocket of his sweatpants and took out a treat and fed it to the dog. He glanced at the envelope resting on his thigh. "The person that was inquired about has been moved...to an, um, off-site facility. I don't know where it is."

Once again Carl checked the rearview mirror and then asked the man, "How many of these off-site facilities exist?"

The man shrugged. "Dozens."

Carl did another check of the mirror and nodded. He buzzed the divider glass up and then reached across the man and pulled the handle so the passenger door opened. The man just sat there holding the dog and looked at the open door and then looked up at Carl.

"That's it?"

"That's it," Carl said flatly and took his hand off of the envelope.

"Okay," the man nodded and then quicker than he had probably moved in quite a few years, grabbed the envelope and exited the vehicle. Once he was back on the sidewalk he set the dog down and turned back around to face the Town Car, but it was already pulling away from the curb.

****

"Hank," Jules smiled as she stood up from the table. Leah had pitifully moped around at being left alone as Jules was getting ready. Jules was sympathetic, but she finally got Leah to understand that this dinner with her former boss was important to her. The curvy redhead greeted Hank Atwood with a big hug.

"I know it hasn't been that long," Atwood smiled back as he returned the hug, "but it's really good to see you, Jules."

They stepped apart and Hank politely held Jules's chair for her as she sat down.

"It's really good to see you too," Jules couldn't help but continue smiling. She had really missed Hank. "Thanks again for making time for me...I know you've been busy - but oh, wait, are you hungry? Should we get an appetizer? Or do you want to go ahead and order?"

"Slow down," Hank grinned and put a hand over hers. "I'm not in any hurry this evening and yes, I'm famished."

Jules turned in her seat and motioned for the waitress. Hank proceeded to order a steak medium-rare, a batch of their fresh cut fries and a cup of coffee. Jules nodded for a refill of her own coffee and decided to give up on the small salad she'd been picking at for the last fifteen minutes. The waitress brought Hank's coffee and took her plate away. Jules sat and studied Hank Atwood as he added cream and sugar to his mug. He looked tired.

She knew that Hank been working almost non-stop ever since the shootout and the takedown on the third floor of the DHS Headquarters building. In the direct aftermath of what happened that afternoon, Jules had been fortunate since she was still technically employed by Homeland. Hank was able to keep her semi-informed of the progress of the investigation. That didn't last long once the investigators tried to identify the perpetrators by their fingerprints.

As soon as those prints were entered into the system all kinds of internal warnings triggered alerts to both the Central Intelligence Agency and the Department of Defense. Jules had actually been in Hank's office when men in suits from both the DOD and the Agency had showed up. Shortly after that meeting, everything to do with the failed operation to prevent Leah Hartsall from testifying before Congress was immediately classified top secret and Jules had been cut out of the loop.

"Everything nice and quiet on the home front I hope?"

"It is," Jules nodded with a grin. "I'm kind of getting used to nice and quiet."

"How's the security company working out?" Atwood had personally selected the private security firm to provide around the clock protection for both Jules and Leah. Homeland was also footing the bill.

"They've been really great." Jules nodded. She never mentioned it to Leah, but she was very thankful Hank had hired them. After everything they had been through, having armed guards around made her feel much safer.

"That's good to hear," Hank smiled and took a sip of coffee. "Have you made any decisions yet?"

"No, not yet," Jules shrugged. She was on a paid leave of absence from DHS. It had been less than a week, but she was still dreading the thought of making decisions about her career right now.

"Take your time," Hank advised and then finally asked, "How's Leah feeling?"

"Much better," Jules smiled.

Leah had ended up in the hospital for three days. The ER doctors inspected the gunshot wound to her side and found only tissue damage. No internal organs or major blood vessels were hit. A few sutures and it would heal as good as new in no time. The bump on her head from where she had fallen had initially been a bigger concern, but again it turned out to be only a minor concussion. They ran several tests that showed no epidural hemorrhaging or skull fractures.

The real problem was her injuries being complicated by the fact she had been minimally exposed to the high-energy discharge of the non-lethal Retinal Disruptors. The Disruptors had been deployed on the entire third floor of Homeland's HQ building during the takedown and had virtually ended the confrontation with no further loss of life. The blinding pulses of purple light that had been emitted from the emergency lighting units had rendered everyone exposed to it completely stunned and unconscious for several hours.

The doctors had explained to Jules that Leah's body had basically gone into a self-induced comatose-like state. They refused to actually call it a "coma" because they didn't believe her condition fit the medical definition of a coma. They had explained that as best as they could tell her body had withdrawn from consciousness in order to heal itself. Their best guess was that her injuries combined with the brief exposure to the intense directed-energy radiation pulses had overloaded her senses. Her brain had basically determined that it needed to shut down and reboot. So it did...which is why she had gone into what the doctor's wouldn't call a coma but referred to it as "an abnormal state of unconsciousness" for almost 48 hours.

"I'm really glad to hear that," Atwood smiled. His smile grew a little embarrassed. "And you two are...still?"

"Yes Hank, we're still together." Jules nodded with a grin. "She's doing really well, almost back to normal. The doctors have had her on strict bed rest, so she's driving me crazy."

"I can imagine," Atwood chuckled. "Tell her to make sure she follows the doctors' orders. She needs to think big picture and long term and all that."

"I'll be sure to tell her you said that," Jules laughed too.

They stopped talking for a moment as the server brought Hank's food and Jules decided she would have a cup of soup. She figured she would need something to distract her while Hank ate. The waitress wrote it down and refilled their coffee cups. Atwood picked up the bottle of steak sauce and dashed it liberally across the slab of meat on his plate. He repeated the same process with the bottle of ketchup for his fries. Jules wrinkled her nose.

"What?" Atwood asked with a sigh.

"I thought you had high blood pressure?" Jules asked.

"Yeah, well...you only live once," Atwood grumbled as he sawed at the steak. He paused to spear both a piece of steak and a fry on his fork. With a wink to Jules he stuffed the large bite into his mouth. He relished the mouthful and then proceeded to take another steak / fry combo bite which he obviously enjoyed as much as the first one. He swallowed, took a sip of coffee and then turned his full attention back to Jules.

"So what did you want to ask me about?"

"What do you mean?" Jules's eyes widened. Had she been that obvious?

"It's fine, Jules," Atwood took another bite of food and followed it up with a slurp of coffee. "I get it. You have skin in the game."

"Hank, I really did want to see you and catch up," Jules offered meekly. Once again, they fell silent as the waitress dropped off Jules's cup of broccoli and cheddar soup and refilled their coffee cups again.

"I know. I did too. Doesn't mean there wasn't more to it, but let's go ahead with the formalities. I'm doing fine. A bit tired, but still hanging in there," Atwood nodded politely after the waitress was gone. He gestured with a fry on his fork that it was now Jules's turn.

"Okay...I'm good." Jules played along. "More rested than I have been in a long time...and I guess you could say I'm hanging in there, too."

"That's great," Hank smiled and ate another piece of steak. He swallowed and then said simply, "And?"

Her smile faded just a little as she looked down into her soup to try and find the right questions to ask. She finally looked up. "Hank...I just...what am I getting myself into?"

Hank wiped his mouth on his napkin. "You mean with Leah?"

Jules nodded.

"And I'm assuming you mean more specifically her past?"

Jules nodded again.

"Hmmm....that's complicated." Atwood nodded as he wiped his mouth again. "I seem to remember somebody called her a trained killer not too long ago."

"Hank," Jules sighed. "I know what I said back before I knew her. That stupid file painted a pretty stark picture, but no details. I want to know the truth about what she really did...used to do."

Hank Atwood rotated his coffee cup on the table a few times and then looked up. "How much do you really want to know, Jules?"

"Well, uh," Jules placed her arms on the table and mimicked Hank by playing with her cup. "I mean, how am I supposed to answer that?"

"Honestly."

"Okay, I guess I want to know everything...or...at least I think I do."

"Tell you what," Hank sat back in his chair and studied his former employee for a few moments. "I'll tell you whatever you want to know as long as you answer one question first."

"Okay," Jules agreed cautiously.

"Why aren't you asking Leah?"

"Well," Jules sighed. "It's sort of like you said...complicated."

Atwood chuckled.

"I will eventually, Hank." Jules continued. "I really will...but I think it's going to take her some time to open up about...the things she used to do."

"That's understandable," Atwood allowed, knowing everything that he did about Leah's past.

"Besides," Jules shrugged. "I wanted to ask you because...I know you'll be objective, Hank."

"That I will," Atwood agreed and sat forward. "Here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to give you the broad strokes and what I think is relevant and if you want to know more after that...you can ask."

"That's fair," Jules nodded.

"Alright...you knew she used to work for the Central Intelligence Agency, right?" Atwood began and paused to take a sip of coffee.

"Yeah, I think I did know that," Jules's brow furrowed. "Didn't the file you gave me for the assignment mention something about it?"

"It did," Atwood confirmed, "but what it didn't mention was that she was part of their Special Activities Division. Do you know what that is?"

Jules shook her head. "Not really."

"On paper the SAD is comprised of two groups - the Special Operations Group and the Political Action Group. The SOG operatives are mostly recruited from within our military and are basically considered the most secretive special operations force the U.S. has...covert heavy hitters. The PAG handles all of the political influence, psychological operations, economic warfare and all the technology and cyber-warfare stuff."




The Retrieval... Ch. 03



Jules nodded that she understood.

"What's not on paper is that within the Special Operations Group exist these top-secret, highly specialized units. The members of these units aren't even considered Agency employees they're so far off the grid - they're listed as contractors in some anonymous file in some Langley basement," Atwood explained. "The units are small, mobile and very effective. They do a lot of the down and dirty work, Jules. I'm talking lethal Black Ops stuff...counter terrorism, assassinations, intelligence gathering - the kind of work nobody ever wants to talk about."

Jules swallowed. "Was Leah in one of these units?"

"She was," Atwood nodded solemnly.

The redhead started to ask another question, but Atwood held up his hand and continued.

"Yes, I managed to get my hands on a copy of Leah's Agency file," he nodded as if reading her mind, "or at least parts of it."

"You did?" Jules asked, impressed. "How did you manage that?"

"Eh, you know," Atwood dismissed it like it wasn't a big deal. "I still keep in touch with an old contact or two on that side of the fence. A few of them still owe me favors."

"Well, thank you," Jules replied. She had a feeling that Hank's influence went way beyond calling in favors and keeping in touch with old friends, but she wasn't going to pursue it. She watched Hank eat another bite of steak and sip some more coffee before finally asking. "So...the file?"

"Yeah, the file..." Hank nodded slowly and pursed his lips before continuing. "I'm not going to sugar-coat it, Jules - Leah was sent on a lot of missions. I won't share any of the details unless you really want me to...but I'm warning you, it isn't for the faint of heart."

Jules didn't say anything.

"Listen to me," Atwood leaned forward and placed his hand on top of hers. "I promise you that there isn't anything in her file that she has to be ashamed of."

Jules met Hank's intense gaze.

"She's a patriot," Atwood said firmly. "I mean the things this country asked her to do...But there is absolutely no shame in doing what needs to be done in service to your country - because whether we like it or not, someone has to be the sharp end of the spear."

"So you're saying she really did those things," Jules said quietly. "The Black Ops...the lethal things."

"She did...but that's the world we live in, Jules." Atwood replied bluntly. "What she's been through was hard, probably harder than you can imagine...but it was necessary. At the end of the day, Leah and the people she worked with saved lives."

Atwood paused as he watched Jules lower her head and stare down at the table deep in thought. Finally, he cleared his throat. "Should I go on?"

"No." Jules looked up. "I think that's enough, Hank."

"I agree," Hank smiled and drained the last of his coffee. He glanced at his watch. "Well, I guess I should probably get going. Miriam is expecting me home for a late dinner."

"Seriously?" Jules managed to crack a smile and looked pointedly at his empty plate. They both laughed and Jules stood up when he did.

Hank Atwood dropped a pair of fifty dollar bills on the table and then leaned over and kissed Jules on the cheek. He turned to leave, but stopped and turned back around. "Do you love her, Jules?"

Jules smiled and nodded her head. "I do."

Atwood smiled. He studied Jules's face for another moment. "You know, I meant to say this earlier, but I don't think I've ever seen you this happy."

"I really am," Jules's smile brightened. "She makes me very happy."

"I'm glad," Atwood replied sincerely. "Just give her some time, Jules."

"I will," Jules nodded.

"I imagine the rest of it will take care of itself," Atwood advised and walked out of the restaurant with a final wave.

****

It was early...much too early for any sane person, but as quietly as she could Jules slipped out of bed.

The redhead silently crept across the room and disappeared into the bathroom for about ten minutes. She finally reappeared wearing a long silk robe. She eased the bathroom door shut as quietly as she possibly could and then turned around. She comically hunched over as she tried her best to literally tiptoe back across the dark bedroom when Leah whispered to her.

"You're never going to find work as a ninja."

"Shit," Jules whispered in disappointment and stood up straight as she abandoned her efforts at being stealthy. "I didn't mean to wake you."

"That's okay, I'm not really tired," Leah turned on the small bedside lamp. She lifted the comforter up as an invitation for Jules to come back to bed.

Instead, Jules walked around to the other side of the bed and perched sideways on the edge of the mattress next to the blonde. She leaned over and gave Leah a soft kiss on the tip of her nose, a move that also happened to give her lover a delightful peek down the gap in the front of her robe. Leah grinned at the tantalizing glimpse of pale cleavage. Jules leaned down again and this time softly kissed Leah on the lips.

"Come to think of it," Leah murmured, "I'm not tired at all."

"Good," Jules whispered and kissed Leah again. "Guess what time it is?"

"Doctor's release?" Leah answered hopefully. She pulled back slightly and looked at the alarm clock. "Technically, that's not for another twenty-two minutes."

"Close enough," Jules replied in a husky whisper and leaned in for another kiss. The burning hunger quickly became evident for both women as their mouths melded. Leah brought her hands up to gently cup Jules's large breasts through her robe, rubbing her palms back and forth until she felt the familiar hardness of the redhead's rather dainty nipples. Jules gave a low moan deep in her throat and pushed her chest forward a little. Leah pulled on Jules's arms to urge the redhead to climb into bed on top of her, but Jules resisted.

Leah pulled back with a suspicious squint. "Why are you acting weird?"

"Who me?" Jules was busted and couldn't stop the guilty grin from spreading across her face.

"Yeah, you," Leah arched an eyebrow. "What are you up to?"

"Nothing."

"Jules."

"I just thought..." Jules shrugged and stood up. She seemed to take a moment to gather herself with her back to Leah, but then took a deep breath and turned around. She smiled and then bit her lip as her hands played with the belt of her robe nervously. "I wanted to surprise you."

"You did?"

"Uh-huh," Jules nodded and with only a slight hesitation, boldly pulled on the loose knot of the robe's belt and with a little shrug let the silk garment fall off her shoulders. The busty redhead stood there in front of Leah wearing a sturdy looking harness around her pelvis to which was attached a large pink dildo. She put her hands out on either side of the brightly colored phallus, wiggled her fingers and smiled.

"Surprise."

Leah immediately felt a pang of apprehension, but she purposely kept her face neutral. She had very limited experience with toys of any kind much less a strap-on, but the look on Jules's face was so sweet...Leah could tell Jules had gone to a lot of trouble trying to find a fun way to please her. They were still in the early stages of their relationship, both physically and emotionally, and they hadn't quite finished the whole feeling out process. It was going to take some time to learn each other's likes and dislikes. Leah had a hunch that this was going to be a very important moment for both of them.

Even though Leah still felt a little uncertain, she couldn't deny the fact that Jules's curvy frame standing in front of her wearing the fake cock had caused an unexpected tingle in her loins. There was no denying that Jules looked hot...very fucking hot. Leah slowly looked the busty redhead up and down a few times as the anxiety started to show on Jules's face.

"Too much?" Jules asked self-consciously. "I can take it off."

Leah's answer was to lounge back on her pillows as she dramatically brought her hand up to point directly at Jules with her index finger.

Jules raised her eyebrows in anticipation of what that meant. Wait? Go ahead? Get the fuck out of here? Leah twisted her hand slightly and then curled her pointing finger slowly. She finally grinned and repeated the motion in the universal 'come here' gesture. Jules laughed and fell on the bed into Leah's arms.

Jules kissed her and then pulled back for a moment to ask, "Are you sure this is okay?"

Leah slowly brought Jules closer once again and kissed her deeply, her tongue playfully running along the inside of the redhead's mouth. They kissed for another minute and then Leah moved her mouth and continued to kiss along Jules's jaw until her lips were next to the redhead's ear. She whispered, "Absolutely."

"Really?" Jules asked hopefully.

"Yes," Leah whispered and lowered her voice even more to say, "I want you to fuck me."

"Ooo," Jules grinned as she got up on to her hands and knees above Leah. "I think I like it when you sweet talk me."

"I'll have to remember that," Leah mumbled but was distracted by the fact that Jules was moving higher up on her body. The redhead stopped so that those magnificent breasts of hers were pendulously suspended right above Leah's face.

"Uh-huh," Jules cooed after she had bent her arms to lower the tip of her breast into Leah's eager mouth. "Just like that."

The blonde closed her eyes in sheer bliss. She absolutely adored Jules's breasts. She brought both of her hands up to gently cup as much of the redhead's glorious boobs as she could fit in her hands while she suckled. She relished their luxurious weight in her palms as her mouth and tongue started working Jules's nipple over. Leah backed off from full on sucking to start rapidly licking and flicking the nub with her tongue. She then switched to swirling her tongue around the tight little summit, widening her route until she was making circles around Jules's swollen areola. Jules was making low moaning sounds in her throat at Leah's effort on her left tit and then without warning the blonde moved her head and began administering the same treatment to Jules's right breast.

"Mmmhmmm...yes...suck my tits, Leah," Jules whispered as she kept her head down so she could watch her lover's efforts. Leah had learned pretty quickly that Jules was much more vocal than she herself was. Leah liked it.

Leah didn't want to leave Jules's left boob out so she slid her finger and thumb up to begin lightly pinching and pulling on the still moist nipple while she continued to suck, nibble and lick the redhead's right one. The blonde thought she could quite literally be content doing this for hours on end, but Jules had other plans. She pulled up and started to move back down Leah's body, taking her bountiful treasures with her much to Leah's disappointment.

Jules lowered herself down on top of Leah. As soon as their breasts pressed tightly together, they shared a knowing smile at the wondrous sensation of breast to breast contact that only two women can truly appreciate. Without a word their heads moved in unison, searching out each other's mouths. Leah breathed in and caught just the slightest trace of the perfume Jules wore as their lips lightly touched. She was amazed all over again at how utterly succulent Jules's lips felt against her own. Leah closed her eyes and surrendered by opening her mouth a little wider and allowing Jules's tongue to softly caress her own.

The kiss lingered and deepened as their passion rapidly escalated. Jules finally pulled away, leaving both women breathless. Jules kissed and licked Leah's neck and continued downward, wiggling her curvy body against Leah's sleek, leanly muscular frame. Jules continued down until she was in the perfect position to give all of her attention to Leah's breasts. Leah let out a soft sigh as Jules started by moving her head and lightly brushing her cheek against the smooth flesh.

Then Jules turned her head and planted a soft kiss on the side of the teardrop shaped mound. Leah trembled as Jules's mouth began to follow the gentle curve and slope of her breast. This was Jules's first real opportunity to spend some quality time exploring Leah's chest up close. The perky B cups were much firmer than the redhead's own much larger breasts. Jules flicked her tongue out at Leah's nipple which elicited a gasp from the blonde. Leah's nipples were also much thicker and longer than Jules's. She took the swollen nub between her lips and began to gently suckle.

Leah brought a hand up to stroke Jules's hair. She inhaled sharply when she felt Jules's teeth graze her aching nipple. Jules sucked a little harder and wiggled her hips to adjust her position slightly. Leah could feel the dildo pressing against her thigh and the anticipation of Jules sliding it inside of her made Leah shiver. Jules kissed her way over to Leah's other nipple and began licking and sucking with just as much enthusiasm. Leah raised her arms over her head and basked in the pleasure of her lover's attention.

The buxom redhead changed tactics by raising herself up on her arms and leaning forward so that her large breasts were just barely making contact with Leah's. Jules rocked gently forward so that her own swollen nipples dragged directly across the blonde's. The sensation was almost electric. Both women let out little moans of delight as Jules rocked back and forth, repeating the nipple to nipple stimulation. As utterly incredible as that felt, Leah was also immediately aware that Jules's position change had moved the strap-on so that its length was lying directly against her swollen labia.

Jules brought her head forward and down for a brief kiss before sitting upright all the way back on her haunches. She shuffled her knees so that she was lined up directly between Leah's legs. She smiled down at Leah and began softly rubbing her hands up and down the tops of Leah's thighs. Leah responded by letting her legs fall wider apart. She was ready for whatever Jules wanted to do to her.

Jules reached behind her and grabbed the small bottle of lube she had cleverly placed on the end of the bed when she had walked around it earlier. She poured a generous amount on the large pink cock and began stroking and rubbing it all around the shaft and head of the dildo. Jules shuffled her knees forward just a little so that she could grasp the fake cock in her hand and rub it directly against Leah's now very wet pussy.

Leah was counting on Jules not to just plunge ahead and stick that thing in her. Her lover didn't disappoint her as Jules began to gently rub the head of it against Leah's labia. Up and down, first one side and then the other. Jules traced the fake cock along her outer lips over and over again and then slid it up the center of Leah's slit until the tip just made contact with her clitoris. Jules kept doing this, slowly rubbing the dildo against Leah's sex for what seemed like an eternity until Leah was squirming. The blonde's apprehension was long gone, her desire building until she couldn't stand it.

"Damn, Jules," Leah moaned. "You're driving me crazy."

"Am I?" Jules asked innocently. She eased forward so that the head of the dildo slowly disappeared between Leah's lips.

"Fuck!" Leah gasped.

"As you wish," Jules smirked and gently pushed another inch into her.

"Yesss," Leah breathed out as she felt her pussy stretch to accommodate the intruder. "Mmmm...fuuuck."

"Tell me." Jules whispered as she slowly withdrew the strap-on until just the head was still inside of Leah. She pushed her hips forward again until it went in even deeper causing Leah to moan even louder. Jules paused as she repeated, "Tell me, Leah."

"It feels..." Leah breathed as Jules slowly pulled out. "It feels really fucking good."

"You like that, baby?' Jules grinned and pumped her hips forward again and leaned into it a little harder until the dildo's entire length slowly sank into Leah's core. Leah let out another groan as the fake cock filled her up, stretching parts of her inner walls that had never been touched. Jules stayed like that with the dildo all the way in for a few moments to let Leah get used to the feeling. She bent her arms so she could lean down to kiss the blonde on the mouth, but with Leah's height, she couldn't quite reach her.

Jules settled for kissing Leah's breasts, first one and then the other. After a few kisses and licks and even a quick suck on each of Leah's nipples, Jules straightened her arms back out and slowly pulled her hips back. The dildo eased out. Leah let out another gasp as Jules pumped her hips forward and pushed it all the way in to the hilt a second time. Leah's pussy was sending out all kinds of crazy mixed signals of both pleasure and pain which were both so intense it was making her dizzy. Leah reached up and grabbed both of her breasts and pinched her nipples.

"You look so fucking sexy," Jules whispered as she again waited a few moments with the fake cock all the way inside of her lover. She smiled lovingly down into Leah's face which was a mask of concentration. After a few moments, Leah smiled back as she felt the uncomfortable tightness inside of her pussy start to relax. She moved her own hips just a little as a test and confirmed that the pleasure impulses were quickly taking over any pain she had felt. She watched Jules's large tits bounce and sway above her with every movement the redhead was making and it was an intoxicating sight.

Just as Leah got used to feeling so full, Jules eased the huge cock back out and then slowly repeated the motion. The dildo went in much easier and Jules watched Leah's face closely. The blonde didn't tense up or grimace, she only bit her lip and closed her eyes at the intensity of the pleasure she was feeling. Jules sensed Leah was ready. She didn't hesitate this time. As soon as the dildo bottomed out, she rolled her hips and pulled it almost all of way back out only to push forward and plunge it smoothly right back in.

Leah gasped and let out a long moan as Jules did it again. She stared up into Jules's eyes. Leah was starting to love the feeling of this huge fucking dildo deep inside of her...but more than that was the fact that this woman she cared so deeply about was in control of making her feel so good. She was just about to reach out her arms and pull Jules down on top of her so she could feel the redhead's body against her own when Jules backed off and pulled the strap-on cock all the way out with a small plopping sound.

"Roll over."

"Do what?" Leah was taken a little off guard by the sudden change.

"Roll over," Jules commanded again.

Leah's eyebrows narrowed as that feeling of trepidation bloomed all over again. She had just gotten used to Jules on top of her, but getting on her hands and knees? She wasn't too sure about that, but wanted to please Jules so she obeyed. She turned over and then felt Jules's hands on her hips and ass as the redhead repositioned her and then scooted her around to face a different direction away from the headboard. She put her head down on the bed with her ass sticking up in the air and anxiously waited.

"You look gorgeous like this," Jules encouraged as she could feel Leah's nervousness. She began to rub Leah's back and then ran her hands up and down the blonde's ass and hips, but was careful to avoid the small area on Leah's side that was covered by a gauze bandage. As Jules took hold of the dildo and put some more lube on it, she leaned over and planted a few kisses on Leah's lower back and the top of her ass. Jules liked the little noise Leah made, so she took the time to crane her neck and run her tongue up and down the blonde's slit a couple of times. Leah pushed her ass back against the unbelievable feeling of Jules's tongue on her pussy and Jules relented. She spent a couple of minutes licking and running her tongue up and down and all over Leah's pussy.




The Retrieval... Ch. 03



Now that Leah was good and wet, Jules was ready to resume. The redhead got back up and behind the blonde. She ended up having to use her knees to push against the inside of Leah's calves to get the taller woman to spread her legs wider. She did it again until Leah had spread wide enough to lower her pussy and allow Jules access to it from this position. Jules rubbed the head of the fake cock up and down along Leah's lips until it slipped between them once again. She gently pushed forward. Leah moaned loudly into the bed as Jules slowly pushed the dildo in, stretching her in new ways and reaching all new places of uncharted territory within her depths. Jules left the dildo all the way in to let Leah grow accustomed to it all over again from this new angle. She again ran her hands all over Leah's firm ass.

Jules slowly pulled out and the dildo unexpectedly fell all the way out. The redhead grabbed it and struggled to find the entrance to Leah's pussy. Once she got it inside, she pushed the dildo all the way in. She was rewarded with another of Leah's moans. She smiled, but that was quickly replaced with a small frown as she pulled out and the fake cock fell out again. Jules awkwardly put it back in and managed to slowly ease it in and out a few times before it happened again. Jules added a little more lube and then adjusted her knees and realized that if she kept her knees closer to Leah and sat straight up while she pumped the cock in and out of the blonde it would stay in.

By staying upright, Jules was finally able to work on getting a rhythm going. She started and stopped her cadence of thrusting a few times as the physical motion was a little unfamiliar. Jules paused to cinch the harness a little tighter and that helped tremendously. She concentrated and after a few tries finally got the hang of exactly how to roll her hips and use her leg muscles to assist with a smooth thrusting motion. Leah kept her head down on the mattress as the intense waves of pleasure and flirtations with pain once again started radiating from within her depths as Jules slowly fucked her from behind.

"Leah," Jules whispered in a husky voice. The redhead's pauses in pushing the dildo all the way and then slowly pulling it almost all of the way out were becoming shorter and shorter. Leah groaned a response. Jules repeated herself. "Leah, honey."

Leah moved her head around on the mattress and craned her neck so that she could look back at Jules. She moaned as Jules entered her fully again. "Uh-huh?"

"Sit up."

"Uhhhh."

"Come on...get up so you can see," Jules whispered a little breathlessly. Leah moved her head but continued to stay down against the mattress with her eyes closed. "I want you to watch me."

Leah moaned again at the feeling of that fake cock filling her pussy, but somehow managed to comply. She struggled up into more of an all-fours position, but on her elbows rather than her hands. She still had her eyes closed and then dipped her head down as Jules thrusted a little harder into her from behind. Leah moaned even louder. Jules stopped thrusting and stayed buried deep in Leah's pussy.

"Come on, baby," Jules encouraged. "Look up."

Leah picked her head up and opened her eyes. A thrill ran through her in the form of a shudder as the reflection of herself down on her elbows and knees with Jules behind her stared back at her from the full-length mirrors on the closet doors. Her pussy somehow got even wetter if that was humanly possible. She couldn't take her eyes away from the image of Jules on her knees fucking her from behind in the mirror.

"You look so beautiful," Jules whispered as she resumed her thrusting. "So fucking sexy."

"Oh, fuck," Leah watched her mouth say in the mirror and then watched her reflection moan loudly as Jules thrusted a little faster and a little harder. Watching herself and the way Jules was working so hard to make her feel good was one of the most erotic, intense things she had ever seen.

"Mmmm, yes," Jules gasped as she increased her efforts. Her large tits were bouncing and jumping as she started to slam her hips into Leah's ass. She had both hands firmly on Leah's lower hips and was using them for leverage. The little nub in the harness was rubbing directly onto Jules's clit and with the increased tempo it was making her feel like she could probably cum if she kept this up. She really wanted Leah to cum with her.

"Does that feel good?"

"Yes," Leah gasped.

"Does it?" Jules demanded to know. "Does it feel good when I fuck your pussy?"

"Yes," Leah managed to gasp a little louder. She had never experienced anything like this before. In the few times that she and Jules had been intimate, the redhead had never demanded a response from her. Jules asking her naughty questions and needing answers only heightened the utter eroticism of it for Leah.

"Tell me," Jules breathed. Sweat was running down the redhead's face, but she didn't slow down. She was getting closer to her own orgasm so she increased her pace a little. She gritted her teeth. "Say it!"

"Yes!" Leah said louder and bit her lip as she felt her orgasm building.

Both women were started to pant.

"Fucking tell me," Jules commanded as she tried to put every ounce of strength and passion she could muster into her thrusts. She didn't think she could hold back much longer. As she rammed the dildo deeply into Leah's pussy over and over again, faster and faster, the raised little nub on the inside of the harness battered her own swollen clit. "Tell me to fuck your pussy, Leah."

"I love it!" Leah finally managed to growl. Being forced so far outside of her comfort zone pushed her over the edge as her orgasm crested. The waves of pleasure began to blossom deep inside of her like an explosion until she couldn't hold it back. "Fuck! Yes...YES...fuck me, Jules. I'm...cumming...OH...fuck me!"

Leah arched her back and Jules kept her hips pushed forward so that the fake cock remained as far inside of the blonde as she could push it. Leah let out another gasped "Fuck me" and then collapsed facedown onto the bed. She said something else, but the rest of her words were incomprehensible and lost to her very loud, drawn out moan.

Jules had followed Leah down to the bed and did her best to keep the dildo buried inside of the blonde. Jules was cumming herself. It wasn't a big one, but still very nice. Leah's legs were shaking and Jules maintained her position of holding herself up on her arms as the blonde rode her orgasm out. When Leah's body finally relaxed and she let out a deep, quivering sigh, Jules relaxed and let herself fall exhausted onto Leah's back which caused the dildo to slip out of the blonde's pussy.

Jules rolled off of her and collapsed on the bed. The two women laid there panting and gasping beside each other for several minutes.

"Why..." Leah finally croaked. Her hand crept over until it intertwined with Jules's hand.

"Why what?" Jules managed to ask while holding Leah's hand. The redhead's large chest continued to heave up and down.

"Holy shit," Leah gasped and lifted her head up to look at Jules's sweaty face, "Why didn't you break that thing out sooner?"

Jules looked up at the ceiling and laughed, a full on completely exhausted but utterly satisfied belly laugh. She rolled onto her side and with a small groan Leah did the same so that they were facing each other. Leah reached up and wiped some sweat off of Jules's forehead and then her fingers delicately danced over to push a stray strand of auburn hair behind Jules's ear.

"So you liked my surprise?" Jules asked with a proud grin.

"Yeah," Leah nodded and held up her thumb and finger so that they were just barely apart. "A little bit."

"Only a little?" Jules scowled and leaned her head forward to playfully bite Leah's fingers.

"Ouch!" Leah moved her hand and brought her face closer to Jules's. "Well, maybe more than a little."

"Maybe?" Jules kissed Leah on the tip of her nose.

"Fine," Leah admitted with her own grin and wrapped her arms around the redhead. "That was fucking amazing, you brat."

"Yeah, it was," Jules nodded. She stared at Leah and the look in her eyes grew a little more serious. "You know...I think you're pretty fucking amazing, too."

"Aw, hell," Leah rolled her eyes. "There she goes gettin' all mushy again."

"Shut up," Jules smiled.

"So..." Leah announced after a few moments of comfortable silence. "Question."

"Ruh roh," Jules mocked.

Leah ignored her. "Why the surprise?"

"What?" Jules scowled defensively. "I thought you liked it?"

"Hell yeah, I liked it," Leah agreed, but wouldn't be sidetracked. "But why now?"

"Jeez, suspicious much?" Jules rolled onto her back and tried to act offended, but then couldn't maintain it. She looked at Leah out of the corner of her eye. "What?"

"Jules."

"Fine," Jules sighed and rolled back over. "I guess I thought it would be good to distract you or whatever...so you wouldn't focus on the hearing and all that."

Leah didn't say anything as she studied the redhead's face. Finally, she leaned over and gave Jules a very soft kiss. "Thank you for being thoughtful. I appreciate it...kinky, but thoughtful none the less."

Jules smiled, but noticed Leah's eyes had moved to look over at the moonlight that was shining through the gap in the blinds. She was starting to zone out and get that distracted, faraway look in her eyes again. Jules reached up and caught Leah by the chin and made the blonde turn her head and look at her.

"Hey...I love you."

Leah smiled and looked away as a slight blush colored her cheeks. She hesitated for just a moment before snuggling in a little closer. She looked back up at Jules with those sparkling blue eyes.

"I love you too."

****

The Congressman finished giving his very brief update to the group and then sat down. The silence that followed spoke volumes. The scowls and looks of disappointment did not go unnoticed by Mr. Smith. He just sat there and kept a polite smile on his face like he didn't have a care in the world. The designated leader of The Council cleared his throat and stood up.

He moved his gaze around the room to his fellow members. "In light of the Congressman's information, we need to come to a decision."

No one spoke. They all knew the leader had more to say, so they waited.

"The Senate Intelligence Committee has a source of information that comprises our asset," the leader summarized. "The asset is extremely valuable. Potentially one of the most valuable we've ever had...but I probably don't need to remind he's also very knowledgeable in terms of our group and its members. The question is - if he is given no other choice and no other option, would he potentially disclose information about our group in exchange for leniency or the promise of freedom?"

"Absolutely not," the Congressman spoke up. "I know it in my bones."

"Thank you, sir," the leader smiled at the oldest member of their group. "But we don't deal in faith within this group, gentlemen. We deal with facts...so what are our options?"

"The solution seems fairly simple to me," another member of the group in military uniform spoke up. "We either eliminate their source of information which in turn eliminates their leverage against our asset...or we eliminate the direct link to the group. Either way, we're protected."

Most of the men sitting around the table nodded their heads in agreement.

"Does anyone disagree?" the leader asked.

The looks on every face indicated they did not.

The leader looked solemnly over at Mr. Smith. He waited until Smith made eye contact and then the leader gave him a firm nod. Their decision had been made. This had been Smith's task to begin with and he failed. Now he would need to attend to it.

With nothing further on the agenda for the day, the early morning meeting of The Council adjourned. The members and their various bodyguards and drivers began exiting the conference room of the large mansion that was located in Potomac, Maryland. Some of the men would linger and small talk for a few more minutes in the foyer, but most of them began making their way to their vehicles. They had a full day of business to attend to either back at their respective corporate offices or in the Nation's capital.

The most senior member of the group deliberately hung back and timed it so that he and Mr. Smith were the only ones left in the room. Smith tried not to show how nervous he immediately felt when he looked up and realized the one on one situation he now found himself in. Mr. Smith cleared his throat.

"Was there something else, sir?"

"Possibly," the Congressman had a thoughtful look on his face as he sat back down at the conference table. He didn't invite Mr. Smith to join him. "Are you going to be able to manage this situation, John?"

"Of course," Mr. Smith smiled with a lot more confidence than he actually felt.

"You don't need to flash me that obnoxiously self-confident smile," the older man chuckled. "I'm more interested in the truth right now."

"Well, sir, the truth is I'll take care of this," Mr. Smith nodded.

"You haven't been able to take care of it up to this point," the Congressman observed bluntly. "The girl's under protection and we have no idea where the asset is. So...what is your plan exactly?"

"Well, I'm not really sure at this point --"

"Do you really think we have time for you not to be sure?"

"Congressman," Smith tried to placate the old man, "I have my associates monitoring --"

"Just make sure that whoever you assign this to doesn't do something completely stupid," the Congressman interrupted bitterly. "You know, like shoot up a Federal building."

"I said I'll take care of it," Smith said with just a little more force in his voice. "Just like I have taken care of everything else I've ever been asked to do."

The Congressman studied him for a moment before finally stating, "I believe you."

"Thank you, sir," Mr. Smith smiled. "I appreciate your confidence in me."

"Are you aware of who sponsored your motion to membership?" The older man suddenly changed the subject. Before Mr. Smith could answer, he continued. "I did...Do you know why?"

Smith was about to answer when the Congressman started speaking again, so he simply held his hand out politely in capitulation.

"Because I believe in you, son...I really do. I honestly think The Council needs your kind of mindset for the future," the old man nodded his head slowly. "Old farts like me won't live forever. None of us will...so we have to think long term. This country needs The Council...and The Council needs men like you."

"Thank you, sir, I --"

"But never lose your focus on that one elemental truth," the Congressman's tone changed. "The Council will exist with or without us."

"I'm not sure I understand what that's supposed to mean, sir."

"Let's just say I have a vested interest in the outcome of this situation," the Congressman leveled those rheumy grey eyes at the younger man. "I recruited Loki. I vouched for you. I'm just as liable for this situation as you are."

"I'll find a way to take care of this, sir." Mr. Smith replied quietly.

"I hope so...because if you don't get creative and find the best possible solution for all parties involved," the Congressman explained and then paused. "Well...let's just say we both really need you to take care of this once and for all."

"What are you trying to say?"

"Oh, come on, John," the Congressman chuckled. "With everything you've done for the group, do I really need to spell this out for you?"

"What?" Smith asked and took a half-step backwards as if he'd been struck. "You can't be serious?"

"I'm afraid I'm being deadly serious," the Congressman looked at him ominously.

"After everything we've done for them?" Smith asked incredulously. "After...I mean...they can't do that."

"Do you really believe that?" The old man asked with a curious look on his face. He stood up and walked to the door. He paused and gave Mr. Smith another long, unreadable look and then left without another word.

****

Leah would have looked stunning if it hadn't been for the haunted look in her eyes.

The tall blonde was wearing a simple blue dress and a white cardigan that Jules had helped her pick out. Jules had also made her sit still long enough to fuss over her hair and make-up. Even though Leah looked really great, it was hard for Jules to see the normally ultra calm, cool and collected woman she loved acting so nervous. Leah couldn't stop pacing as she waited for the escorts. It reminded Jules of a wild animal in a cage.

Leah was an emotional wreck and the silent ride in the armored SUV didn't do a whole lot to improve her mood. She exited the vehicle and allowed herself to be escorted into the Hart Senate building by the protection detail. They stayed with her as she went through the process of clearing security, signing off on a stack of documents and then being officially sworn in. That was as far as the armed men were allowed to go, so Leah ended up sitting all by herself in a small room with nothing to do but stare at the wall. Leah thought how nice it would have been to have Jules holding her hand right now, but Leah had insisted to the redhead that she had to do this alone. Besides, it was a closed hearing and Jules wouldn't have been allowed inside with her anyway.

Finally after another thirty minutes of waiting in that room, Leah found herself sitting behind a long oak table that faced two rows of raised seating. In those seats with all of their attention focused on her were the members of the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. She tried to listen as the Chairman gave a general overview of the Committee's investigation of allegations involving the events of that night in the Andarab district which is located in the southern part of Baghlan Province, Afghanistan. Leah could clearly hear what the elderly man was saying, but it was hard to concentrate as her mind felt like it was jumbled into a thousand pieces as memories of that night kept swimming in and out of focus.

One of the Senate security guards took his cue and walked over and took a file folder from the Chairman and then presented it to Leah. The Chairman instructed her to look at its contents. She was then asked to verify for the record that the papers inside were in fact the proper documentation and authorization needed to allow her to speak freely about certain aspects of the classified mission and in particular the actions of her Team Leader.

Leah looked the documents over and then nodded.

The Chairmen went on to ask her several more questions to which she confirmed that yes, she and two other men, all three United States citizens, were in fact working as contractors for the Central Intelligence Agency at that time. She also confirmed that the three of them were all assigned to the same independent covert unit under the supervision of Team Leader Travis Rackley. The Chairman then walked her through the timeline leading up to the launch of the mission. Leah kept her responses short and to the point as she answered the man's questions about the peripheral details of the mission.

The Chairman was being very polite and respectful towards Leah which was completely premeditated on his part. His kind tone and overall courtesy was having the exact desired effect on the witness as he had intended. Leah was subconsciously reciprocating by opening up and giving more details in her responses. He gave her an encouraging nod as she was explaining that her unit had been tasked with a classified mission that was being conducted under a cover mission that fell within the parameters of the reintegration project.

For the first time, the other members of the Committee spoke up and asked Leah several questions about reintegration and she had to go on and explain that the project was part of the draw down in U.S. troops in Afghanistan. Simply put the State Department was "hiring" Afghani citizens to fill the all-important roles of leadership and law enforcement throughout the region. She didn't bother to mention that she thought the plan had been utterly useless. How could it have possibly been successful when the people overseeing the project insisted on hiring thugs and terrorists? The bottom line was that the same corrupt Afghanis who had been killing American soldiers for several years were now being offered jobs and getting paid by Uncle Sam...but she wasn't about to try and explain that to a bunch of politicians.




The Retrieval... Ch. 03



At this point the Chairman stepped in and had to remind his fellow Senators that they were getting off task. The Committee had not called on Leah to explain the State Department's project and they needed to stop asking the young lady to clarify aspects of it. He solemnly reminded everyone in the room that Leah was there to testify about the alleged events that occurred at a warehouse on the outskirts of the Andarab district in Afghanistan on the night in question. He turned his serious face directly towards Leah and made sure she understood that she was there to testify specifically about the actions of her Team Leader, Travis Rackley.

Leah found it hard to swallow.

She nervously reached out for the glass of water sitting on the table in front of her and took a long drink as the Chairman watched. She didn't like the way her was looking at her...she silently wondered what had happened to the nice old man who had been asking her questions. She set the glass down and took a deep breath and then met the Chairman's gaze. He raised an eyebrow and the questions continued.

By answering the Chairman's questions and then further explaining some of her answers, Leah went on to reveal that her unit's cover mission had been to pose as trainers. They were supposed to work in conjunction with two advisors from one of the big private security companies and together they were tasked with training up half a dozen members of the newly hired local police force and turn them into a tactical response unit. Leah actually had to run through the cover mission details twice so that the members of the Committee were clear on exactly who all was involved in the mission and ultimately present at the small warehouse on the outskirts of the village.

Next, the Chairman's questions and Leah's answers walked everyone through the specifics of what her unit's actual objective had been. Leah explained the specifics of their mission and then went on to answer a few more questions and confirmed a couple of the details. She took another small break by pausing for another drink of water and then surprised everyone in the room by requesting to make a statement. The Chairman thought it over and told her he would allow it.

Leah took the opportunity to boldly praise Travis Rackley for the phenomenal job he had done.

The Chairman carefully studied her face for a few moments and then went ahead and asked her to expound upon her statement. Leah did so without hesitation. She explained that their unit's entire mission, even their cover duty, had ended up putting her unit in an extremely dangerous situation. That it was Team Leader Travis Rackley's leadership and decision-making skills that had taken an overwhelmingly hostile and potentially volatile situation and managed to turn it into a successful hunt and termination of one of Al Qaeda's main financiers.

Leah finished speaking and sat back in her chair with a neutral expression on her face. She knew she had given them just enough that they couldn't possibly move on without asking follow-up questions. She wasn't going to lie, but she felt that if she could just get these men to understand the circumstances of that mission...well, maybe in the end it would help Rack. She really didn't know what else she could do...but she had to try.

She wasn't sure her gambit had paid off until one of the Senators on the Committee cleared his throat and then asked her to please clarify what she had meant by "overwhelmingly hostile" and "potentially volatile". She took a satisfied breath before answering. Leah went on to explain that her unit had been instructed not to engage with any of the local Taliban forces if they could possibly avoid it. The problem was that they had already confirmed that the Al Qaeda money man they were hunting was being hidden by the very same local Taliban forces they weren't supposed to engage with.

She went on to explain that to complicate things even further, it became very clear, very quickly that at least half of the men that they were supposed to be training as part of their cover were not only very sympathetic to the Taliban, but had familial ties to the very group who were hiding the terrorist bag man. She now had everyone in the room's attention. She detailed that not only did they have to contend with the Taliban sympathy factor, but it didn't take long to figure out that the men they were supposed to be training in tactics, these so-called Afghani "police officers", were nothing more than armed savages...so they were stuck trying to deal with a group of vicious bullies who constantly had to be reminded not to brutalize and hurt the local villagers during training exercises.

These factors had made mission success almost impossible.

No one spoke, so she continued. She explained how their trainees and the two representatives from the private security firm had established their base of operations in a small, abandoned warehouse on day one. The warehouse was nothing more than an old Quonset hut on the outskirts of the village, but was perfect for what they needed. The plan was that they would train during the day, eat on the run and then everyone would hunker down in the shelter of the warehouse for the night.

She went on to explain that even though she had carefully chosen clothes and gear to help hide her gender including long sleeves, tactical vest, sunglasses and a voodoo tactical scarf that covered her face...the fact that she was a woman had been a major issue from the jump. Team Leader Rackley had done a good job of squashing that problem early on by making sure she didn't interact with the trainees. She provided over-watch and security and kept her distance...but Rackley still saw it as something they could exploit. He used the excuse of Leah being a female to camp his team well away from the warehouse for security reasons. It made perfect sense and everyone agreed with it. It also afforded their unit the opportunity to use the cover of night to stalk their objective.

Leah looked around the room and felt like she had everyone's full attention. She went on to explain that mission success came on their third night of hunting. She emphasized that it was Rack who had been instrumental in leading his team to successfully eliminate their target. The fact that they had done so without the locals or the Taliban having the first clue as to what had happened right under their noses was a huge win. Leah almost allowed herself a smile when she said that.

"I sincerely congratulate you on that successful mission, Ms. Hartsall," the Chairman spoke up. He gave her a kind smile and then he lowered his voice. "But you do understand what you are here to testify about, don't you?"

Leah's stomach dropped.

"You're here before this committee to give testimony about the validity of accusations being brought forth by the Afghan government," the Chairman continued. He paused to look at her.

She swallowed hard and gave him a small nod.

"Accusations that United States citizen Travis Rackley in the employ of the Central Intelligence Agency executed Afghani citizens."

Leah didn't move a muscle or blink as the events of that night started to come alive in her memory.

"Further investigation by this Committee, Ms. Hartsall, has discovered that Mr. Rackley may also be responsible for the murder of two American citizens as well," the Chairman advised her. He looked up from the papers in front of him. "So if you will, please start by describing the events that happened that night in question after your team completed the mission...the events at the warehouse."

Leah closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She slowly opened her eyes, paused to take another long drink of water and then in a flat, monotone voice complied with the Chairman's request. She testified to the rest of the events that happened that night. She described everything she had seen and everything she had witnessed in detail. She sat and answered all of their follow-up questions to the best of her ability. She clarified details for the record. She told them everything.

It seemed like it would never end.

When the Committee was finally satisfied with her testimony and they had no further questions, Leah was literally exhausted. She didn't take a single break even though they had offered one several times. She had just wanted to get through it and be done with it once and for all. Now that it was over she felt like she had run a marathon on her hands and knees. She was physically shaking when security came and led her outside to be handed over to her armed escort. As she walked out of the building with her protection detail, she felt sick and literally had to stop and lean against a wall for a few moments.

She could hardly remember the ride back in the armored SUV to Jules's apartment. Leah unlocked the door and barely spoke two words to Jules. She simply undressed as she zombie-walked into the bathroom, took a long hot shower and then couldn't bring herself to do anything but crawl into bed. Jules hovered over her the entire time, but didn't bother Leah with any questions. Jules knew it would take her some time to recover and when she was ready to talk, she would talk.

For now Jules simply watched over her as she slept.

****

Jules let Leah sleep for the rest of the day and on through the night...but enough was enough.

It took the redhead an inordinate amount of pleading, coaxing and cajoling to get Leah to finally agree to get up and out of the apartment for some breakfast. Jules thought it might have been the flashing of her boobs with the promise of more to come that finally did the trick. Leah shook her head as Jules sat next to her in the backseat of the armored SUV with a smug look of satisfaction on her face. Leah didn't have the heart to tell Jules that the reason she had actually caved in and agreed to breakfast was to get Jules to just be quiet. Well...that and the boobs.

They didn't have to wait long at all as the hostess approached them with menus just as they stepped through the entrance to the restaurant. They were shown to a booth and their security escort took a nearby table. Jules had gotten to the point that she was able to mostly ignore the pairs of armed men that went with them everywhere, but Leah was constantly aware of them. They both ordered coffee from the hostess and studied the menus for a few minutes until the waiter appeared a few minutes later with their java and pulled out his order pad. Jules ordered pancakes and Leah went with eggs, bacon and hash browns. They also decided to share an order of the house special wild blueberry mini-muffins.

The waiter came right back out with their basket of mini-muffins. The intimidating men sitting at the nearby table watching his every move seemed to make the young waiter a little nervous and he ended up knocking one of their water glasses over. The water ran all over the table and started to drip down onto Jules's purse, but the waiter thoughtfully snatched it up and made a big show of wiping it off with a towel he had hanging off of his apron. The young man apologized profusely and another waitress came over to help him get everything cleaned up. They finally got the table squared away and the young waiter made it a point of handing the now dry purse back to Jules before finally leaving them to eat in peace.

After all the excitement was over, Leah sipped her coffee and waited. She knew Jules was probably going to start asking about how the testimony went and she really couldn't blame her...if their roles had been reversed, Leah would have been just as concerned. The problem was that she just really didn't feel like talking about it. Not to Jules and not to anybody else. Yesterday had been hard enough to get through without dwelling on it and rehashing all the details. So when Jules opened her mouth, Leah was not prepared for what came next.

"I think you should talk to him."

"Talk to him...who?" Leah asked suspiciously, but deep inside already knew the answer.

Jules toyed with the spoon she had used to stir her coffee with before looking up and replying. "Rackley."

Leah didn't say anything for a moment as she studied Jules's face. "Why?"

"Oh, come on," Jules scoffed with a small grin. "With everything that's happened, you can't tell me you haven't thought about it?"

"How could you possibly know what I have or haven't thought about?" Leah said in very low voice.

"No...uh-uh," Jules surprised Leah again by not backing down. "You can just put the intimidation bullshit away because I'm not scared of you, okay? I love you, Leah...and you are not going to shut me out."

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah, really...," Jules looked into Leah's eyes sincerely. "Not if you want us to work."

Leah didn't say anything.

"Do you?" Jules asked and reached across the table and held her hand out.

Leah looked down at Jules's hand and felt like she could just cry forever as she placed her hand in it. "Yes...I do."

"Then let me in," Jules pleaded. "I'm not going to push you. Go at your own pace or whatever...but you have to let me in."

"Okay," Leah blew out a somewhat shaky breath and then chuckled. "You're so damn dramatic."

"Shit," Jules grinned and bit into a mini-muffin. "You ain't seen nothin' yet."

"Great," Leah rolled her eyes. She grew quiet again. "I guess I have thought about what I would say to him...what he would say to me."

"I thought so."

"I mean..." Leah started to explain and then stopped with a small shake of her head. "It doesn't matter. I'll never see him again and I'll just have to live with that."

Jules didn't say anything.

Leah immediately picked up on the fact the curvy redhead was suddenly avoiding eye contact. "What?"

"What...what?"

"Jules."

"I, uh..." Jules hem-hawed around and then said quietly. "I sort of made a phone call."

Leah cocked an eyebrow and waited for the redhead to continue.

"I kind of..." Jules started and then stopped. She smiled guiltily. "Well, I kind of called in a favor."

Jules was granted a momentary reprieve as the waiter brought their food. The redhead enthusiastically thanked the young man and then occupied herself by meticulously putting butter and syrup on her pancakes. Leah just sat there and watched her. The waiter left and Jules kept her head down as she cut her food into little squares. Leah folded her arms.

"Jules."

"Fine," Jules sighed and put her utensils down. "Look, I was worried about you. I thought that if you could just have a chance to sit down and talk to him...it would help. So I called Hank and he pulled some strings and tomorrow we're going to some dark site thingy and you'll be able to see him."

"Dark site thingy?" Leah repeated and despite everything else couldn't help but grin. "God, you are so cute."

Jules shrugged and smiled as she took a big bite of pancake. Jules proceeded to fill Leah in on everything she knew about the trip to see Rackley tomorrow...which wasn't a lot of information. The only thing Jules knew for sure was that it was all going to be done very covertly and with a high security presence. Leah understood and changed the subject. She was starting to feel nervous all over again about the possibility of seeing Travis Rackley face to face, but for right now she just wanted to enjoy this woman's company. The woman she loved.

They spent the rest of the morning enjoying their breakfast.

****

The young waiter stopped by each of his tables and refilled coffee cups and made sure everyone had what they needed. Since his tables were good for a few minutes, he told the manager he was going to step outside and take a quick smoke break. He was lucky the manager was also a smoker and sympathized with him. He was told to go ahead, but just make it quick.

The young man dodged his way through the kitchen area and walked out the back door. He lit up and checked over his shoulder as he quickly kept walking. He hadn't lied - he was taking a smoke break. Just not quite the break his manager thought it was. He walked to the far corner of the building. Away from prying eyes, he turned around to check the back door one more time and when he turned back around the scary looking dude in the sport coat was right there.

"Shit!" the young man exclaimed and turned his head to blow out a stream of smoke. "Dude, you scared the crap out of me."

"Well?" the scary looking man asked.

"I did it," he nodded. "Slipped it into that chick's purse...the one with the big tits."

The young waiter was referring to the small black disc the man had given him - the same one he had put into Jules's purse when he was wiping it off. The thing was nothing really, slightly smaller than a dime and kind of resembled a really flat button. It was the kind of thing most people wouldn't give a second look to unless they knew what they were looking for.

"Nobody saw you do it?" Sport coat asked. He had been watching the redhead's apartment from a distance for several days and had discreetly followed the targets to this restaurant. The luck had come when he happened to see this young waiter dressed for work in the restaurant's distinctive green shirt stop for a smoke break before going into to start his shift. The rest had been easy.

"Nah," the kid shook his head and nervously sucked on the cigarette. "It's all good."

"Let me check it," Sport coat nodded and pulled out his phone. He tapped a few buttons and then intently studied the screen. Finally satisfied he smiled and handed the kid a neatly folded wad of money. "Good job, kid."

"No problem," the young waiter called after him as sport coat walked away. That was the easiest hundred bucks he'd ever made.

****

Mr. Smith answered his encrypted cell phone. "Yes?"

"The tracker is in place," the man wearing the sport coat was walking away from the restaurant as he spoke into the phone. "No issues. Strong signal too."

"Perfect, thank you," Smith allowed himself a very small sigh of relief. Placing the tracker had been the hardest part. Now he just needed to have his people monitor it and pray that at some point, somewhere along the line within the next forty-eight hours his team was presented an opportunity to take care of the target. Forty-eight hours was all the time he had because that was the maximum battery life of the small transmitter.

Smith needed a Hail Mary right now...

****

Leah was quiet.

There was nothing unusual about that...except the reason she was being so quiet was because she was more scared than she had been in a long time. It had nothing to do with the fact that she was riding in the back of a government SUV as it traveled deeper and deeper into the middle of nowhere. It wasn't even due to the stuffy black-out hood that she was being forced to wear over her head that made sight impossible and most of the sounds around her inaudible.

She was afraid because she had no idea what she was going to say when she faced him...or what he would say to her. The SUV bounced in and out of another rut, pushing her hard against the seatbelt. Leah was pretty sure most people would be having a panic attack if they had been in her situation. Leah had to admit this wasn't a first for her. She certainly couldn't say the same for Jules so Leah gave the redhead's hand a reassuring squeeze.

The SUV continued rolling along one of the few paved roads that ran amid the hundreds of miles of uncultivated fields and natural forests of Southeast Virginia. Leah sensed that the vehicle was finally slowing down. And in fact it was as the driver approached a private drive on a one hundred acre section of land where there seemed to be little more than dense vegetation and the occasional glimpse of wildlife.

What neither Leah nor Jules could see about this particular piece of privately owned property because of the hoods was the well concealed razor wire running around the perimeter of this secluded tract of land. They were also completely unaware of the multiple security monitors or the armed men and women discreetly patrolling the woods. These same concealed sentries watched in silence as the SUV rolled to a stop in front of the plain, brick building that sat all by itself in the middle of the property.




The Retrieval... Ch. 03



After a brief pause the unknown and unnamed escorts opened the rear doors and helped Leah and Jules from the vehicle. These driver escorts then passed them off to another pair of nameless, faceless escorts who firmly held one of their arms and walked them towards something that was in the opposite direction of the vehicle. She didn't have a clue where they were headed, but Leah was aware that the terrain went from gravel to grass and then finally concrete. She also knew that they must have stepped through a doorway and gone indoors from the drastic change in smells and temperature. They stopped walking and just stood in place for a few moments and then the hoods were taken off.

Both women blinked rapidly and breathed in deeply in relief from the stuffy hoods. They found themselves standing in a plain white room with no furniture and no decoration. It was literally empty with the exception of ceiling mounted cameras that were pointing at them and the pair of steel elevator doors they stood facing. The doors silently slid open and the two men who had been escorting them didn't say anything as they waited for their guests to step into the elevator car. The women did and the escorts followed them in. One of the escorts unlocked a control panel and then keyed in a code into an interior control panel. The elevator started moving and Leah immediately sensed they were going down. So...it was an underground facility.

Leah figured they must have gone down at least thirty feet below the surface before the elevator stopped. The doors opened and the group exited the elevator and stepped right into a large hallway that was just as blank and empty of decoration as the room upstairs. Jules silently wondered if whoever had designed and built this place had indulged in one too many horror movies involving insane asylums because this place was just flat out creepy. Leah knew what this place was and why it looked the way it did. At an anonymous detention center, the people in control didn't want to give the people being detained any chance at objects that might possibly be used as a weapon...and almost anything could be used as a weapon.

The escorts led them down the hallway that was lined with a series of heavy, solid looking steel doors that didn't have any door handles on them. There was a small control panel set into the wall beside each door and then an opening in the middle of the door. It looked very foreign and futuristic to Jules. It looked like a lot of other Black Site prisons Leah had been to in the past.

They finally stopped at a door about halfway down the hall. One of the escorts punched in a code and then stuck a rounded key looking device into the opening and waited for a click. The heavy door released and the same escort who had opened it took a step back and held the heavy door open for them. Jules quietly advised Leah she would wait outside and reached out and gave Leah's hand an encouraging squeeze. Leah took a deep breath and stepped into the room.

The room was empty and bare just like everything else except in the middle of the room was a small, square table that looked like it was made out of steel. It was bolted to the floor. On opposite sides of the table were two chairs, also made of metal and also bolted to the floor. Leah glanced up at one of several cameras that were built into the ceiling. She seriously doubted there were any blind spots in a place like this.

Leah hesitated and then sat down in one of the chairs at the table and waited. She seemed to be doing a lot of that lately. She quietly sat and just stared down at her hands. She looked up as a door on the other side of the room swung open. She hadn't noticed it when she first walked in. She held her breath as she watched two more of these escort people walk Travis Rackley into the room.

********

Chairman: And approximately what time was this, Ms. Hartsall?

Leah: Around 0200, shortly after we had confirmed the kill, sir.

Chairman: Can you tell us what specifically made Mr. Rackley change the extraction time, Ms. Hartsall?

Leah: Rack didn't want us standing around and waiting for the body to be discovered. He said we needed to move forward with the extraction ASAP rather than wait until daylight.

Chairman: Did he say why?

Leah: He said he didn't trust the trainees. He told us he would talk to them and come up with an excuse as to why we had to leave in the middle of the night.

Chairman: And you agreed with Mr. Rackley's plan?

Leah: Well, it wasn't my place to agree or disagree, sir. Rack was Team Leader. But for the record, we were all in agreement...we were hoping it would buy us a couple of extra hours so we could get out of the country without further incident.

Chairman: So rather than wait until the following morning, Team Leader Rackley decided to approach the warehouse that night. Is that correct, Ms. Hartsall?

Leah: Yes, sir, that is correct.

Chairman: Please describe the events that happened as your team approached the warehouse that night, Ms. Hartsall.

Leah: Well...at first we held back and observed for a while, sir.

Chairman: Why did you do that, Ms. Hartsall?

Leah: Because the trainees still had fires going and we could hear activity inside. They had also posted a sentry outside of the main door.

Chairman: Was that unusual, Ms. Hartsall?

Leah: Very unusual, sir. The trainees never stayed up that late and they never pulled guard duty.

Chairman: Okay, thank you. What happened next, Ms. Hartsall?

The four of them were being ultra silent as they worked their way closer to the old, dilapidated Quonset hut. Something definitely didn't feel right. Even though they each wore their com-units with ear pieces and throat mics, Rack used hand signals to indicate he wanted Leah on over-watch with the M2010 and Barkley and Reiberson to spread out on either side of the perimeter. The three of them silently obeyed as Rackley started to circle the warehouse.

Leah snaked her way to a higher patch of ground and then quickly and silently set up with the sniper rifle. She attached the integral suppressor to the barrel and inserted the five round magazine of special hand-loaded sub-sonic rounds. She dropped onto the ground, adjusted her position and reached into her kit. She attached the small device to the end of her scope that would give her night vision capabilities. She settled in behind the scope. She was only seventy yards out. She would not miss if Rack called on her to start silently handing out long distance death certificates.

Leah kept her finger off of the trigger as she swung her scope around and checked that both Bark and Reibs were in position. She swung back and watched as the ghostly green image of Rack approached the side of the warehouse. She keyed her throat mic and advised that they were in position and good to go.

Rackley confirmed with a simple click of his mic and then worked his way to a spot that had a large gap in the boards on the side of the warehouse. The gap was about eight feet off the ground so he had to climb and pull himself up to peek inside. Leah watched through the scope as he hung there for about a minute and looked through the gap. She then watched him let go and he actually stumbled a little when he landed. She couldn't understand why -- Rack was as sure-footed as any man alive. She also didn't understand the look on his face as he turned around.

********

The simple walk across the room was slow going as Rackley was bound with four-point restraints. His wrists were cuffed to the chain around his waist which was attached by another length of chain to the chain that ran between the cuffs around his ankles. He shuffled along towards the metal table with a guard on either side of him firmly holding onto each of his arms. Rackley kept his head down as he concentrated on his shuffle so he didn't trip.

He finally made it to the table and the guards let him go. Rack turned half way around so that he could back himself into the chair. He was moving rather gingerly as if he was in pain and Leah immediately wondered if he was being subjected to interrogations. He sat down heavily and finally managed to swivel around to face her despite all of the restraints.

"I have probably told you this more than once over the years, sweet cheeks," Rackley immediately flashed her that familiar grin. "But I guarantee I never meant it more than I do right now...because you are one hell of a sight for these sore eyes."

"Shut up," Leah scowled, but then couldn't help but smile back at him.

They continued smiling at each other for another moment or two and then the grins faded and they just sat there in silence. While Travis Rackley was overjoyed to see one of his favorite people in the whole world, he didn't want to make small talk. He was embarrassed that Leah had to see him like this. He cleared his throat.

"I have to say I didn't expect to see you hear."

"Jules pulled some strings," Leah explained quietly.

"Oh," Rackley nodded. "I see. So...are you okay?"

"I am," Leah nodded. "You?"

"I've seen better days," Rackley chuckled. "But I've seen worse too...I'm surviving."

She nodded again and then said, "It's good to see you."

"Leah," Rackley sighed and leaned forward on the table. "Why did you come here?"

"I..." Leah started to say and stopped. "I'm not sure."

"Come on." Rackley said quietly. "Talk to me."

"I just wanted you to know," Leah whispered and tears welled up in her eyes. "I'm sorry, Rack."

"You don't have anything to be sorry about," Rackley sat up straighter.

"Yes," Leah wiped at her eyes. "I do."

"Hold on a minute," Rackley jingled his chains as he tried to hold up a hand. "Let's get a couple of things straight. First off, I'm a big boy, Leah...I made my choices and I don't have a problem paying my tab. Are we clear on that?"

"Choices?" Leah looked up in disbelief. "I testified, Rack. I told them everything...about Andarab."

"Is that what's got you all knotted up?" Rackley asked her. "The whole testimony thing?"

Leah nodded and few more tears slid down her cheeks.

********

Chairman: And what happened next?

Leah: Rack called us all back in to our original meeting point, sir.

Chairman: And then, Ms. Hartsall?

Leah: Rack wouldn't even make eye contact with us. He acted like he was in a hurry and...I guess he seemed really upset about something. He started to strip down out of all of his non-essential gear and then loaded up with weapons and ammo like he was getting ready for a combat mission, sir.

Chairman: Did he happen to mention to you or your team what his intentions were?

Leah: No, sir, he did not.

Chairman: Did he say anything at all, Ms. Hartsall?

Leah: Yes, sir. He instructed us to watch his six, sir.

Chairman: And what does that mean? Watching his six?

Leah: It means we were to watch his back, sir. Provide back-up to whatever it was he was planning to do.

Chairman: And did you, Ms. Hartsall?

Leah: Yes, sir. We did.

********

"How long have you known me, Leah?"

Leah shrugged and wiped at her eyes again.

"We were in the shit for six years," Rackley informed her. "In all that time...in all the hell holes we ended up in - did you ever know me to get upset or hold a grudge against anybody for doing the right thing?"

Leah solemnly shook her head.

"What was the first thing I told you when I started training you?" Rackley asked her gently. "Do you remember? During that first week when you screwed up the map coordinates and didn't know what to do?"

Leah shrugged and wiped at her nose.

"Come on, sweet cheeks," Rackley encouraged her. "I know you remember. Tell me."

"Never apologize for telling the truth."

"Exactly," Rack said softly and leaned as far across the table as his restraints would let him. "So you know in your heart I'm not mad at you...right?"

Leah shrugged and sniffled, but then asked in an almost girlish voice as she looked up at him through her eyebrows. "You're really not mad?"

"Of course not," Rackley reassured her with a smile. He paused for a moment. "Look, I don't regret what I did in Andarab..."

"You don't?" Leah asked quietly.

********

Chairman: What did Mr. Rackley do next, Ms. Hartsall?

Leah: He moved into position behind their sentry, sir.

Chairman: Did he approach this sentry person, Ms. Hartsall? Did he attempt to question this man?

Leah: Uh...no, sir. He didn't.

Rack always could move like a ghost.

He slowly moved in and without a sound came up ten feet behind the sentry who just stood there obliviously smoking a cigarette. The guy literally did not have a clue someone was behind him. Leah recognized the sentry as the youngest of the trainees. He wasn't the worst of what they had been dealing with for the past three days, but he wasn't exactly a peach either. They watched Rackley stand up tall and walk directly up behind the man. The three of them let out a collective surprised gasp as with two lightning quick movements Rack viciously snapped the young man's neck.

"What the fuck?" Barkley whispered urgently.

"No idea." Leah whispered back. She forced herself to get over her shock and commanded the other two men, "Let's move."

They silently moved into covering positions as Rack dragged the body over to lay it against the side of the wall. He rejoined them and without a word to his team started a countdown on his fingers to entry. Leah had never seen that look on Rack's face before. She wasn't really sure how to describe it, but she knew it was the scariest expression she had ever seen on a human being's face in her life. It was something ferocious and primal.

Rack's count reached one and they burst into the warehouse.

"Stand the fuck down!" Rackley shouted at the top of his lungs and fired a warning burst into the air from his M4. Leah, Barkley and Reiberson quickly fanned out and covered every possible angle, ordering everyone to freeze as Rackley stalked into the middle of the room.

Everyone inside of the warehoused froze and fell silent...everyone except the women and young girls. They continued crying and keening in pain and terror. Leah blinked her eyes at the horror she was seeing and at first it wouldn't register. The female villagers were lined up against one wall of the warehouse. The four adult females and five girls had their hands bound and short lengths of rope around their necks tying them helplessly to the wall like dogs. They were cowering and hiding their faces as they cried. Except for the young girl of about twelve whose hands and feet were tied spread-eagle to the four corners of a table. She was covered in blood and her clothes were in a pile next to the table. These fucking animals had been taking turns torturing and raping her.

One of the American's from the security company moved from where he had been leaning up against the wall. Leah remembered his name was Clark. He slowly approached Rackley with his hands held up. He shook his head. "Man, I tried to tell them --"

Without a word Rackley smoothly and quickly drew the Beretta from the tactical holster on his thigh and put a 9mm hole into Clark's forehead. Bark and Reibs shared a quick look and then pulled their M4's in tighter against their cheeks. The trainees jumped at the gunshot. They continued holding their hands up as they stared at the body of the dead American trainer.

"What the hell, man? Have you lost your --" the other American trainer started to shout at Rackley, but another boom echoed around the warehouse and he joined his friend in hell.

Leah tightened her grip on her CAR-15 as she maintained her own position. The assault rifle felt like it weighed a hundred pounds. She was breathing so hard and so fast that she suddenly thought she might hyperventilate. She continued to cover the two trainees who were in front of her, but couldn't keep her eyes from glancing back over at the little girl tied to the table who was just whimpering now.

"Which one?" Rack stepped forward and asked. His voice was thick and hoarse with emotion. He slowly looked around the room and his eyes looked like they belonged to some rabid animal. "Which one of you sick motherfuckers came up with this evil shit?"

Of course no one spoke up. Rackley's eyes flicked wildly around the room as his lip curled back from his teeth like a predator's. He grabbed the closest trainee by the throat and it seemed Rack had superhuman strength as he man-handled the grown adult with one hand like he was small child. The other trainees started surreptitiously trading looks with each other out of the corner of their eyes.

What did this crazy American think he was going to do?

Chairman: And what did Mr. Rackley do then?

Leah: He shot the trainee in the head, sir.

Chairman: And did he say anything when he did this, Ms. Hartsall?

Leah: Yes, sir, he said 'fucking answer me', sir...and then he repeated his original question.

Chairman: And did you say anything at this time, Ms. Hartsall?

Leah: Yes, sir. I asked Rack if I could attend to the young girl, sir.

Chairman: Did you?

Leah: Yes, sir, I did to the best of my ability.

Chairman: And were you able to help her, Ms. Hartsall?

Leah: No, sir. I tried...but she died in my arms, sir.

Chairman: Oh...well, I'm sorry to hear that. What did Mr. Rackley do next, Ms. Hartsall?

Leah: He killed them, sir.

Chairman: Which ones? The ones responsible for raping that young girl?

Leah: No, sir....All of them.

Chairman: Did they all confess, Ms. Hartsall?

Leah: No, sir. They didn't have to. They either participated or let it happen...either way Rack figured they were all just as guilty. So he put a bullet in each of their heads...sir.

********

"Not one little bit," Rackley reassured her again with a firm nod. "The world is a much better place without those pieces of shit walking around in it."

Leah nodded her head in understanding. She agreed.

"But at the end of the day," he continued and smiled at her. "Deep down, I understand why you had to talk about it."

Leah looked up at him and her lip quivered.

"I mean it," he nodded. "I know you Leah...I understand why you needed to finally get that nightmare out of your head."

"You do?" Leah whispered. When Rack nodded she broke down and began sobbing. She leaned her head down on the desk close enough to Rackley that he managed to get his fingertips up high enough to stroke her hair.

"I do, sweet cakes...I understand," Rackley said softly and leaned far enough across the table to kiss her on top of her head. "I honestly don't think you need my absolution for anything you said or did...but I need to tell you something."

Leah managed to get control of herself and sit back up. She wiped her face with some embarrassment and sniffled. She looked at Rackley. Those bright blue eyes of hers were as vulnerable as he'd ever seen them.

"I'm saying this because I think you need to hear it," Rackley whispered and actually smiled as his own tears started to leak from the corners of his eyes. "I forgive you."

****

"Good morning, General." Smith offered the polite greeting into the speaker phone on his desk. He was sitting in his home office holding his encrypted cell phone in his hand. He was staring at the longitude and latitude coordinates of the little tracking device.

"I'm about to walk out of the door with my family, Smith." He could hear the General sigh. "Church service starts in twenty minutes, so I suggest you get to it rather quickly."




The Retrieval... Ch. 03



"My apologies, General," Smith sat up and leaned closer to the phone. "I would never even think about disturbing you on a Sunday --"

"What part of get to it did you not understand?"

"Again, I apologize." Mr. Smith repeated and then stopped. "I need a favor, General."

There was silence on the other end of the line and Smith thought he heard another sigh. "Go ahead."

Smith explained what the favor was and the General was more than a little unhappy that he was being asked for such a thing...but as a long-time member of The Council, he understood just how important this project was and the kind of time restraints Mr. Smith was under. He told Smith he would get back to him as soon as the service was over.

"Thank you, sir, I cannot tell you --" Smith had sat back in his chair and was in the process of expressing his gratitude when he realized the General had already hung up.

****

Secretary McMillen, the man in charge of the Department of Homeland Security, sat at the head of the twenty person conference table located at one end of his spacious office in the DHS Headquarters building. He slowly looked around at the group of seven people sitting clustered at the table around him while he considered the proposal that had been put before them. He had already thanked each of them for taking time out of their Sunday afternoon for this meeting.

They had just finished reviewing the proposal. McMillen picked up his glass of water and took a long drink. After setting it back down on the coaster, he looked to his immediate right at his Chief of Staff. "Your thoughts, Kris?"

"I think it needs to happen." DHS Chief of Staff Kris Malone replied simply as he dropped his pen on the legal pad in front of him.

The Secretary's gaze moved on to Homeland's Executive Secretary. "Dr. Connelly?"

"I personally don't think there's any question," DHS Executive Secretary Dr. Katherine Connelly nodded. An attractive woman in her early fifties, Dr. Connelly took a quick look around the table and added, "We have to do this and rather quickly."

"Now hold on, Kate," Sterling Bronson spoke up without waiting to be called on by the Secretary. His position was General Counsel for DHS. "We don't have to do anything. Right now there isn't any evidence that a threat still exists. This is just a courtesy we are considering."

"I wouldn't necessarily call it a courtesy, Sterling," Deputy Secretary Alex Majors chimed in. As the second in command at DHS, his opinion mattered. "Let's not forget what happened in this very building last week."

Sterling Bronson opened his mouth to voice his rebuttal but held his tongue when Secretary McMillen held his hand up. The Secretary looked down the table at their guest from the U.S. Marshals Service. Mark Troutman was the Marshals' Assistant Director of Witness Protection and had known Seth McMillen for over twenty years.

"Talk to me, Mark," Secretary McMillen said quietly. "What's the Marshals Service official stance on this?"

"Officially, we see it as a potential threat. Not a single agency or department has completed their part of the investigation, so on paper nothing has been substantiated yet," Troutman shrugged. "Unofficially, I wouldn't be here if I didn't think the threat was viable. We've placed people in WITSEC for less."

Secretary McMillen slowly nodded. They were dealing with an unknown organization - one that wasn't afraid to take big risks. Or were they? Did the threat start and end with the mercenaries that had attacked the headquarters building? Or was this something else? Something bigger?

He had to take the threat seriously. Listening to the majority consensus of his people and the U.S. Marshals had done nothing but confirm his gut instinct that Leah Hartsall should be placed into the WITSEC program. It would be effective just as soon as the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence ruled that she wouldn't need to provide any further testimony. Once they had given her the all clear, she'd be whisked off into the program as soon as the Marshals could get everything set up and in place.

The Secretary spoke quietly and firmly as he explained why he was going to move forward with his decision. With the exception of DHS's General Counsel, everyone in attendance agreed with the decision. The U. S. Marshals Service Assistant Director gave his approval of the decision and was in the process of politely excusing himself from the meeting as the rest of the Homeland group was preparing to move on to the next item on their agenda when the seventh member of the group spoke up.

"Excuse me, Mr. Secretary," Deputy Under-Secretary for Analysis Henry Atwood cleared his throat. "May I make a couple of suggestions, sir?"

Secretary McMillen knew how just how integral of a role Hank Atwood had played in stopping the assault in Homeland's HQ building. He looked down the table and dipped his chin slightly for Atwood to continue.

****

Within the depths of the same underground facility that Leah and Jules had visited the day before, a visitor was sitting comfortably in one of the wing back leather chairs positioned across the desk from the unofficial Warden's desk. The facility didn't exist on paper, so the title technically didn't officially exist either. Unofficial or not, there was no question in anyone's mind that came to this black-site holding facility that the full bird Colonel sitting behind the large desk was in charge.

"I have to say," the Colonel chose his words carefully, "this is a highly unusual request."

"I understand that, Colonel," the handsome visitor nodded patiently and paused long enough to enjoy another sip of the Glenmorangie Single Malt his host had generously provided. "I also want to assure you that this request is not being made lightly."

"I would naturally assume that to be the case," the Colonel allowed.

"And the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs wanted me to extend his personal gratitude for your cooperation on this," the visitor continued and allowed himself a small smile when the Colonel visibly stiffened at the mention of the VCJCS.

"Of course," the Colonel nodded and cleared his throat. "And please let the General know that if there is anything else I can do to assist with this...situation, I will do so to the best of my ability."

"I'll definitely pass that on," the visitor smiled.

"I would appreciate that."

"And I hate to cut this short," the man in the perfectly tailored Brooks Brothers suit announced as he stood up and finished his tumbler of scotch in one swallow. He set the glass down, straightened the sleeve on his charcoal gray jacket and started to walk towards the door of the Colonel's office. "But I'm afraid I have a schedule to keep, Colonel."

"I understand, Mr. Smith," the Colonel called out and had to scramble out from behind his desk to catch up.

****

Mr. Smith had informed the Colonel and his armed escort that he would be just fine left alone with the detainee and actually preferred it that way. As this was against facility protocol, it took a few more minutes of reassurances and finally a lightly veiled threat to get his way. After the Colonel and his men finally left, the visitor stood alone in front of the cell of one Travis Rackley or as he was known in this place, TDR06891.

"Hello, Mr. Rackley," the visitor greeted the man who chose to remain prone on his concrete bunk with his arms comfortably behind his head.

"Afternoon, Mr. Jones," Rackley replied in a friendly tone. "Is it afternoon? And is it Mr. Jones today?"

"It's actually almost midnight," the visitor corrected him. "And it's Mr. Smith."

"Of course it is," Rackley chuckled and sat up, swinging his legs around to a sitting position. He comically looked around at his windowless cell and then shrugged at his visitor. "It's kind of hard to keep track in here."

"I can imagine it is," the man agreed.

"I highly doubt that," Rackley scoffed.

"Pardon?"

"The remote possibility that you would end up in a place like this doesn't exist in your world, Mr. Smith," Rackley explained. "You couldn't imagine what this is like if you tried."

The visitor looked up as if he was carefully considering Rackley's observation. He finally looked back down and smiled. "I suppose you are correct, Mr. Rackley."

"I know you didn't come all this way for small talk," Rackley said quietly as he stood up and came over to face Mr. Smith through the bars of his cell. "Why are you here?"

"Actually," Mr. Smith replied smoothly, "we have a bit of a dilemma that we'd like your assistance with."

Rackley studied the man in the expensive suit with a flat, unreadable gaze for more than a minute. He finally nodded his head for the visitor to continue.

"This current situation is proving to be quite problematic," Smith began as he reached into the inside pocket of his suit jacket and pulled out his cell phone. "Our group has been unable to reach a consensus on the proper course of action."

"Is that right?" Rackley replied quietly and reached up a hand to rest it on one of the bars of his cell door.

"Yes, that is correct," Mr. Smith nodded and began scrolling through his phone.

"And?" Rackley prompted.

"We basically have two choices. We can lose a very valuable asset," the visitor paused to glance up at Rackley with a meaningful look and then went back to his phone, "who has served us well, but due to current circumstances is no longer of use to us."

"Or," Mr. Smith continued and then turned his phone around so Rackley could see the screen, "we could just eliminate the source of information that poses a threat."

Rackley silently stared at the image of Leah on the phone until Mr. Smith exited the screen and put it back in his jacket.

"It's fairly simple if you think about it...if one or the other was to simply cease being a factor in this annoying investigation," Mr. Smith explained. "Well, then there isn't any link to the group, is there?"

Rackley remained silent.

"I mean, if that was the case," Smith continued, "then we certainly wouldn't need to risk any more unnecessary exposure in pursuing the matter further."

Rackley continued to stand there stoically, the only indication of emotion being the knuckles of his hand turning white as he gripped the cell bar tightly.

"Your thoughts on the matter, Mr. Rackley?" the visitor asked pleasantly.

A muscle in Rackley's cheek twitched as every single fiber of his being willed the bars separating him from this man to disappear. Through sheer force of will he wanted them to magically vanish for just a minute...because sixty seconds would be all he needed.

Rackley suddenly smiled and shook his head as he began chuckling.

"Did I say something to amuse you, Mr. Rackley?" Smith cocked his head inquisitively.

"No....but I thought you said there was a dilemma?"

Mr. Smith raised an eyebrow.

Rackley leaned a little closer to the bars and his grin disappeared as he lowered his voice. "Go tell your puppet masters I know what needs to be done, errand boy...and I'll do it."

Smith didn't blink an eye or appear ruffled in any way. "That's your final decision?"

"It is," Rackley replied through clenched teeth.

Smith politely nodded his acceptance of the decision.

"Just so we're clear...I do this and there won't be any need to pursue it further, correct?"

"That is correct," Mr. Smith confirmed.

"Alright," Rackley sighed and went back to sit down on his bunk. "I'll take care of it."

"You have twenty four hours."

"Roger that," Rackley said quietly with a single nod. "Now get the fuck out of my sight."

****

The trip had taken longer than Leah had thought it would.

Which made sense since rather than flying they had driven...which they really had no other choice but to drive since she did have all of her stuff with her. It didn't matter one way or the other to Leah. She felt like she was on her own again. She listened without comment as the Deputies from the U.S. Marshals Service gave her their final instructions. They asked her if she had any questions. She didn't. Satisfied, they handed her a list of emergency contacts. They told her they would stop back in to check on her in a couple of days, wished her good luck and left.

With the Marshals gone, Leah wandered from empty room to empty room. Now she really was on her own. Finally, she sat on the bare mattress in the bedroom. Moving into a new place was nothing new to the tall blonde. Once she had officially terminated her contract with the Agency, she'd spent the next six months moving around the country in search of that elusive place that she could call home. She thought she had found that back in North Carolina...but then a certain redheaded Federal Agent had come into her life and turned her world upside down.

As her thoughts began to dwell on Jules, Leah stood up and rubbed her palms against the thighs of her jeans. She missed Jules so much that her heart literally ached in her chest. Leah sighed and picked up her suitcase and dumped it on the bed. She began taking each piece of clothing out and separating it into a fold pile and a hang up pile. She had to do something to occupy herself or she thought she might cry.

Leah froze with a shirt in her hand. She cocked her head when she heard a fumbling noise at the front door.

It was more than likely the Marshals Service. Maybe they forgot to unload some of her belongings or they decided to make one last check on her...at this point it didn't really matter. Leah's instincts had already kicked in as she quickly dug in her suitcase and came out with a 9mm in her hand. She held it down behind her thigh as she quickly and quietly moved down the hallway towards the living room. She stopped at the end of the hall and peeked around the corner towards the front door.

She could see shadows moving along the small crack at the bottom of the door.

The door latch rattled loudly and then the knob turned. As the front door began to open, Leah brought the semi-automatic handgun up and took aim. She took a deep breath and held it as her finger took the slack out of the trigger. She was mentally prepared to eliminate the threat. As soon as she caught the first glimpse of auburn hair, she breathed out and took her finger off of the trigger as she lowered her weapon. Jules was standing in the open doorway with a huge grin on her face. Leah was stunned.

"You're early," Leah finally remarked. She carefully set the gun down on a small table in the hallway.

"Yep," Jules nodded as Hank crowded in behind her. Jules dropped her bags as Leah crossed the room and swept her up in a big hug. One of Hank Atwood's recommendations to the Secretary of Homeland Security was to give Jules the option to join Leah in the WITSEC program.

"You're early," Leah repeated with a smile and literally picked the redhead up off of her feet and swung her around. As she finally set Jules down, Leah began showering that smiling face with kisses.

Hank turned away in embarrassment and cleared his throat.

"Sorry," Leah shrugged and let Jules go from the embrace. Jules reached out and grabbed Leah's hand as they both turned to look at Atwood.

"No worries," Hank smiled at them.

"Can I get y'all anything?" Leah asked and took a step towards the kitchen. "You want some coffee or water or something?"

"No...no, thank you," Atwood tipped his chin. "I appreciate it, but I actually need to get going. I just wanted to make sure Jules got here safe and sound."

"Thank you for this, Hank," Jules smiled at him and let go of Leah's hand. She moved towards Atwood and wrapped her arms around him. She felt tears well up in her eyes.

"You're very welcome, Jules," Hank Atwood said affectionately. After hugging for another moment, he put his hands on the shorter redhead's shoulders and pushed her away to arm's length so he could bend down and look into her eyes. "You two just stick to the program. Follow the Marshals' instructions and stay out of trouble. You hear me?"

Jules nodded and Leah added, "Yes, sir."

"I'll be checking in on you every so often," Atwood announced as he turned towards the door. He gave Jules another tight smile and then motioned with his head at Leah. "Walk me to my car?"

"Sure," Leah replied warily.

She paused to look at Jules who smiled sympathetically and nodded her head encouragingly. Leah was confused by that, but went ahead and followed Hank Atwood out the door. There was a neat stack of boxes and another suitcase on the porch that Leah was sure belonged to Jules that they had to maneuver around. She trailed behind him down the porch steps, down the front walk and towards the blacked out Lincoln Navigator that sat idling in the driveway. Atwood nodded at his driver as they approached the vehicle. He stopped at the rear passenger door and turned to face Leah.

"Leah," Atwood said quietly as he reached into the inside pocket of his suit jacket. He pulled out an envelope and hesitated with a solemn look on his face. He kept the envelope in his hand as in a hushed tone he informed her of the death of Travis Rackley.

Leah didn't move. She stood there with a blank expression on her face as Homeland Security's Deputy Under-Secretary for Analysis briefly explained the Black Site Prison's version of events. He then informed her that the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence would be closing their investigation. Her testimony would be sealed and they wouldn't be calling her again in relation to the events that happened in Andarab.

It was over.

Hank told her how truly sorry he was. He reached out a hand and placed it gently on her shoulder. She didn't pull away from it. She didn't do anything but stand there in stunned silence. He handed her the envelope and explained that the officials from the Black Site had found it in Rackley's cell. It was sealed and addressed to Leah. She took it without looking at it and held it down by her side as she continued to stare ahead blankly.

Atwood expressed his sympathy again and then told her goodbye. She just stood there and numbly watched Hank Atwood climb into the back of the SUV. She watched it back out of the driveway and pull off to disappear down the road. Leah slowly turned towards the house. Jules was standing on the porch. She had her arms wrapped around herself as if she was cold. Leah turned slightly towards the back of their little house.

"Leah?" Jules called out to her.

"I..." Leah said quietly and then had to clear her throat. "I'm going for a walk."

"Do you want me to come with you?"

"No," Leah shook her head. "I think...I just want to be alone for a little while."

"Are you sure?" Jules asked with her heart breaking. She wanted to be able to make the hurt go away, but knew there was nothing she could do for Leah right now.

"I'm sure," Leah nodded as she began walking slowly towards the back yard.

She walked across the yard and then on through the little patch of woods that was directly behind the house. She followed a little trail that eventually led down to a clearing which hid a small lake. She stopped and took a deep breath and then made her way down to the end of the short pier that jutted out from the bank.

Leah sat down and held the envelope from Rack in both hands. Her feet almost touched the water. She sat and just looked at the envelope for a long time. She finally opened it and with a deep breath started reading. As she read a small smile spread across her face at the memories Rackley's words conjured up. She was smiling while at the same time tears started to spill down her cheeks. Her hand went to her mouth as a small laugh escaped.

She continued reading and her smile slowly faded. Her brow furrowed. She shook her head slightly and started back at the top and reread the letter again. By the end, a look of resolve had replaced the tears. She held Rackley's letter tightly in her hand and looked out at the water.




The Retrieval... Ch. 03



Finally, she wiped her face off and reached in her pocket and pulled out a zippo lighter. She held the lighter in one hand and reread the last few lines of the letter one more time. She sparked the lighter to life and then set the edge of the paper on fire. She held it up and watched it burn until it was mostly ash and too hot to hold any longer.

She let it go and watched the ashes flutter away and fall into the water.

"Okay, Rack," Leah quietly said out loud. "I promise."

****

Epilogue:

"That is simply unacceptable," Mr. Smith sighed into the encrypted cell phone.

He continued to listen to his lawyers talk over each other into their speaker phone. These last three days had been a nightmare. He probably should have seen this coming. Earlier in the week he was shocked when the evening news reported that the Congressman had dropped dead of a stroke. His first selfish thought had been that the old man's death might not be a good thing for his future. Wow...had that been an understatement. The old man kicks the bucket, nobody from The Council bothers to call and let him know and before the body is even cold - every fucking aspect of his life starts turning to shit.

First his accountant called that next morning and announced that the IRS was hitting him with a full scale audit - both professionally and personally. Okay. Not the end of the world, but the timing seemed odd. Later that same morning he gets a call from the local authorities in New York informing him that his summer home in the Hamptons had burned to the ground. Not a single item in it salvageable...which of course he assumed included the 1.25 million in unreported, untraceable cash that he had hidden in the wine cellar. Oh, what was that? You say the blaze had been so intense and burned so fast that the Fire Department was going to go ahead and launch an arson investigation? Of course they were.

That was followed up the next day with a call from the manager of his distribution operation in Maryland. It seems that OSHA had stopped by for an unannounced full-scale inspection. Not completely unheard of, but not exactly standard operating procedure either. Surprise, surprise - they just happened to find multiple safety violations. Major violations. The kind of major violations that totally shut down his operation pending further investigation. Perfect...just perfect.

Smith had absolutely no proof, but every bit of his recent 'bad luck' smacked of the ever so subtle backlash from The Council. Well, he wasn't going to just roll over. He made phone calls. He sent emails. He showed up in person demanding a face to face meeting....and nothing. He finally received one return phone call. He was advised by an anonymous attorney that the associates from his social circle thought it was perfectly reasonable to expect him to weather this storm on his own before accepting any more social engagements with the group. So...all of the members of The Council were distancing themselves from him.

He didn't understand. What had he done wrong?

"No, you listen to me..." He started to argue as his meandering walk carried him over to the large picture window of the second floor hallway. He pulled back the curtains an inch to make sure his security personnel were still in place. "What? How is that possible?"

Smith turned from the window and continued walking down the hallway until he was in his bedroom, the one room in his spacious house that wasn't decorated in the rustic motive of the rest of the place. He stopped pacing and sat down heavily on the bench seat in front of the large make-up table that he provided for his female companions. He stared at his own disbelieving reflection in the attached mirror as he half-listened to his lawyer explain for the third time that none of the contacts that he had provided the attorney with would take or return the man's calls.

"I don't understand how this can be happening," Smith whispered almost to himself. He heard one of his lawyers ask him to repeat what he said and Smith suddenly didn't feel like talking anymore. He clicked the disconnect button almost at the same time as he replied, "I'll call you back."

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Ever since he saw the Congressman's face on his flat screen, he'd had the worst feeling of dread in the pit of his stomach. He couldn't explain it, but it almost felt like a premonition that something terrible was coming his way....something worse than an audit or a fire. He literally had no idea what that something was, but it was that very reason why he had increased his security. Of course, there was no way in hell that he was going to tell his security personnel that it wasn't a viable threat that he was worried about. As long as they were vigilant, let them think whatever they wanted.

He reached over to the night stand for the bottle of Ambien and popped two in his mouth and swallowed them dry. He'd been going non-stop for over thirty hours straight and he simply could not function like this anymore. Smith was confident he could figure a way out of his current situation...he just needed to get some sleep so he could think clearly. He stood up and walked over to the wet bar and helped himself to half an inch of scotch to help wash the pills down.

He swallowed the liquor down in a single gulp and replaced the tumbler. His mind continued to race as he collapsed into a slouch on the end of the bed. He was so tired. He thought about undressing but simply did not have the energy...so tired. He jumped, unsure of where he was for a moment. He wasn't sure how much time had passed, but the sedative and the alcohol were hitting him pretty quickly. Smith suspected that he might have even dozed off for a couple of minutes while sitting up. He struggled for a minute but finally managed to kick off his shoes and crawl up onto the bed. He grabbed a pillow and put it under his head and let out a deep sigh.

Something nudged the bottom of his foot.

"Uh," he slurred a grumble. It happened again and he groaned his complaint. He scowled in his drug-induced state of semi-sleep. It took some effort, but he managed to move his leg a couple of inches away from the annoyance. He was too far gone for any alarm bells to sound in his brain. A sharp pain in his foot caused him to jerk his eyes open. He blinked slowly several times, but he was having a very difficult time getting his vision to focus. When he was finally able to clear his sight enough to see, his brain tried desperately to send out the panic impulses to move him into flight mode.

Instead, he just stared dumbly at the apparition that was standing at the foot of his bed.

"Who?" was all he could manage to croak as a little string of drool rolled down his chin from his open mouth. Something finally clicked and he ineffectively fumbled at his pocket in slow motion. He needed to find his phone.

"Don't," the thing hissed a warning and pointed a 9mm Browning Hi-Power directly at his face. The handgun looked huge to Smith's warped sense of depth, probably due to the custom suppressor attached to the barrel.

Smith's hands fluttered a little more until they were finally still. His throat moved up and down a few times until he actually managed to swallow. He blinked slowly again. "Who-r'you?"

Leah didn't say anything as she let the man drink in the nightmare that she appeared to be. She wore all black tactical clothing, black boots, black gloves and the voodoo scarf covered her face. She knew she looked fierce and had purposely gone to the extreme. This man deserved to be afraid and to make sure of that she had a little surprise for him under the scarf.

Smith remained in a haze and wasn't sure exactly how or when it happened, but somehow he ended up flat on his back in the bed with this terrifying manifestation sitting on his chest. He couldn't move - his arms were pinned down by his sides. His mind struggled for a purchase on reality as he watched this thing reach up and pull the covering down off its face to reveal a nightmare pattern of black and gray skin. Leah had used camo paint to put geometric patterned war paint on her face.

He was snapped out of his daze when a gloved hand clamped roughly down over his mouth. The sudden struggle to breathe and the pain in his arms brought him far enough out of his fog to realize he was in grave danger. He started to meekly struggle to get free when he heard a metallic snick. His eyes widened at the wicked looking blade that appeared out of nowhere right in front of his face.

The terrible visage moved closer to hover directly over his face. Smith saw the knife slowly lower from his field of vision and then felt the very real edge of the razor-sharp blade press against his throat. The nightmare's almost luminescent pair of blue eyes burned bright with hatred.

"Hello, Mr. Smith," the thing from his nightmares whispered. The pleasantness of the soft voice was so out of place that Smith couldn't even comprehend that it was feminine.

He couldn't do anything but gape in disbelief at this terrifying thing on top of him.

"I want you to listen very carefully," Leah whispered and emphasized her point by pressing the blade just hard enough to break the surface of his skin and draw blood.

Mr. Smith's response was to lose control of his bladder.

Leah wrinkled her nose. "I take it I have your full attention."

Smith whimpered.

"I want you to understand," Leah said quietly and then leaned down a little further until their noses were almost touching, "just exactly how lucky you are."

Smith blinked.

"You're lucky because the only thing keeping me from bleeding you out just as slowly and painfully as humanly possible," Leah continued whispering, "is a promise that I made someone. Do you understand?"

Smith slowly nodded his head as much as the blade against his throat would allow. The fear induced adrenaline in his system was kicking in and counteracting the stupor of the Ambien and alcohol.

"Good," Leah growled. "Because I'm not sure you can possibly comprehend just how much I really want to make you suffer right now."

Smith breathed heavily through his nostrils and fought the urge to vomit.

The nightmare visitor sat up and took the gloved hand off of his mouth. Smith turned his head and coughed and blinked and sucked in much needed air. He brought his hand up to wipe his mouth and realized he could move his arms. The specter had disappeared from on top of him. He looked around wildly wishing with all of his might that it had all been an actual nightmare, but the thing was now standing beside his bed.

He watched in awe as the blade of the knife disappeared back into the handle with another quiet snick sound. Smith allowed himself just the slightest sigh of relief as he watched the switchblade disappear into a pocket on the visitor's thigh.

Leah stood very still and studied Smith for a long moment. When she saw that there was actually a small glimmer of hope in Smith's eyes at the hint of surviving this encounter, she pointed the Hi-Power at his head.

"W-w-wait!" Smith babbled desperately as he held both hands up towards the nightmare version of Leah and turned his head slightly away in cowardly anticipation. "Y-you said!"

"I said what?"

"You promised...not to kill me."

"No," Leah said simply. "I didn't."

"What?" Smith said dumbstruck. "I...but...you said."

"I said...that the only reason I wasn't going to make you suffer," Leah explained patiently and lowered the weapon slightly, "was because I made someone a promise."

Smith just nodded his head in one last grasp at hope.

"Travis Rackley was my friend."

At the mention of Rack's name Smith's face scrunched up in despair.

"And I made him a promise," Leah said between clenched teeth as she took aim, "that I would personally put a bullet in your brain."

"P-please," Smith whined and squeezed his eyes shut.

"Good bye, Mr. Smith," Leah hissed.