Hi everyone! Sorry for the delay, i've been pretty busy these two past week.

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Chapter 2: Explosive

"Riley, Gabriel thanks for joining us!" Said Lillian, glancing at her clock as the two agents entered the operations room.

"Sorry, traffic jam" explained Gabriel taking a seat, "what's up?"

"Yesterday evening around eleven, an undercover CIA operative disappeared," started the red haired woman, "Rachel Wallace, 32, no family."

"And what was her assignment?"

"She was a bartender, downtown in a Russian area. The boss, Vladimir Irchenko is under suspicion for leading a human traffic ring. She was supposed to meet her contact at the CIA last night but she never showed up. She has vital intel that can't fall into the wrong hands."

"And what do we know so far?"

"Nothing, she just vanished... start with her apartment but be as discreet as possible, her cover might not be damaged yet."

"Understood. We'll contact you from there."

Downtown, 24 Baker Street

"Wait, I go first," said Riley grabbing her gun from her holster.

"No way!" Gabriel replied, reaching the doorstep.

"Gabriel!"

"What?"

"How about you let me do my job, you know that thing I was hired for: protecting you!"

Before he could even think about an answer, she kicked the door in and disappeared from his sight.

He whispered "dammit… so stubborn" before following her inside, gun in his hands as well.

"Clear!" Shouted the brunette from the bathroom.

The apartment was quite simple: a small table, one chair, no sofa, no TV set, no pictures… nothing seemed out of place.

"I'll take the bedroom," Gabriel put on his gloves and started his search as Riley did the same in the living-room.

But half an hour later, they still hadn't find anything out of the ordinary or that might have helped them.

At the exact moment Gabriel was about to give up, he heard his phone ring: Lillian. "Lillian, anything new? Because there's nothing here." He put her on speaker as Riley joined him.

"Yes. A body that matches the description of our missing person was found in Rock Creek Park. I need you to go there and ID her."

"We're on our way."

Rock Creek Park, Washington, at noon

"Will you ever let me drive this car Riley?"

"Never," she replied, slamming the car's driver door and putting on her sunglasses and Gabriel imitated her. It was noon; the sun was high and burning in the sky.

Agent Jameson was waiting for them next to the body covered with a white sheet.

"Jameson? What are you doing here?"

"Lillian called me as well since I was around talking to our victim's contact," he replied.

"Our victim? So this is the body of Rachel?"

"Indeed. Her contact didn't teach me anything new, just that he waited for her yesterday night but that she never made it."

"Do we know the time or cause of death yet?" Asked the brunette, curious. She kneeled down near the victim, put her glasses on the ground and removed the sheet to observe the face of the young woman.

"The medical examiner said she has been dead for at least ten hours, but for the rest we'll have to wait for the autopsy."

"Let's get back to Cybercom then," proposed Gabriel as Riley was getting up.

Gabriel and Riley were half way back to the car when Jameson shouted "Riley! Your sunglasses!"

"Oh yes…" She turned around and started running. Two seconds later, she was thrown to the ground by a powerful explosion and head hit the soil pretty roughly. She couldn't hear anything and everything was fuzzy. She knew she was still conscious thanks to the buzz from her ears, but what the hell had just happened? Then she saw Gabriel, actually, she knew it was him because she smelled his aftershave, his face was a blur. She distinguished his voice but couldn't understand a damn word. He put one arm under her knees, the other on her back and carried her away. When he placed her back on the ground, her sight was getting better; she could see his worried face staring at hers.

"Riley, Riley are you ok? RILEY!"

"I… I think…I am…"

"Are you hurt?" She couldn't focus on his voice, smoke was everywhere and her head ached. "Riley, look at me! Are you hurt?"

"My head…" she replied, blinking, trying to assess where the pain was coming from. "And my shoulder." Gabriel took a look at her shirt, blood from her head had started to stain it and her shoulder was dislocated.

"I called 911 but I should fix this now. It's gonna hurt Riley, sorry."

"Just do it," she said, blinking.

He grabbed her wounded arm. "By the way, you still didn't tell me why you were upset this morning?"

"I told you it was…." She didn't get the chance to finish - Gabriel had torn her arm to replace it. She couldn't even yell, her voice was stuck in her throat. The pain was just unbearable, even breathing caused her pain, she felt like she might pass out at any minute.

"Hey, Riley! Stay with me ok? The ambulance will be here anytime now, just hold on." And she rested her head on his warm and soft chest, watching the orange smoke and the small fire surrounding the place where, a few seconds before, they were all standing. They could hear the sirens coming closer. As the pain kept Riley awake and conscious, she realized that Jameson was gone. A lonely tear flowed down her cheek.

Riley's apartment, 9PM

"I told you, it's fine!"

"You're injured; let me at least carry your stuff?" Pleaded Gabriel as they were waiting for the elevator.

"No. I was just a bit shaken up. I can still carry my bag."

"A bit shaken up? You dislocated your shoulder and you have a concussion. Do you remember the part where the doctor said 'get some rest'?"

"Don't know what you're talking about," said the brunette, opening the door.

She threw her stuff onto the sofa and headed to kitchen, Gabriel on her tracks. "So, I'll take the couch?" He asked.

"Sorry?"

"Well, since you can't sleep or be alone for the next 48 hours…"

"You don't have to do that, really, I'll be perfectly fine."

"I'm staying," he said with conviction.

"Fine…" He smiled, satisfied and took the beer Riley was handing to him.

"You know you can't actually drink alcohol?" He smiled as she put the second beer back in the fridge and took a little bottle of orange juice instead.

Her phone chimed and she grabbed it from the back pocket of her jeans. She had received a text - Colin.

Riley,

I saw you got hurt today. This job is not for you, you're wasting your time protecting a guy who's not worth it. It's just advice from a man that actually cares about you. But I understand, we don't know each other very well, we've only met once. This is why we should meet again – sooner rather than later.

Colin

Gabriel caught the way the young woman was staring at her phone, upset, worried, tense. "Riley? What's going on?"

She seemed to remember she wasn't alone. She tried to act as if nothing was wrong. "Just a weird text from a friend," she said, trying to brush it off.

"Same friend as this morning huh?" He knew there was something off about her. "Just tell me, please, let me help you?"

"I… "

"Don't make me hack your phone Riley."

"You don't have the right to do that! You promised my life will remain private."

"I know what I said."

I hope you liked it! A review is welcomed! :) next chapter soon!