AN1 Hi there. I had to take a break from this fiction. There wasn't enough expressed interest for me to continue this story at the time, so I went to do other things for a short while, and then the coronavirus hit, which I now think I had. If I did get the virus, then thankfully, my symptoms were mild, which is why I can't be 100% sure if it was that or not, because I didn't take a test. However, I certainly had corona like symptoms for at least two weeks. I even lost my sense of taste and smell, and at the time, they weren't widely known as corona like symptoms, which is what had me believe it was an unrelated illness at the time...

Anyway, moving on, I am back with more Spy and Soldier, because I won't abandon my stuff without giving it enough chances to be read. So, if you do wish to continue to read this story, then you know what to do.

The Spy and the Soldier

Chapter Six, The Soldier vs. the Intersect: Part Two

Washington D.C.

One day since the upload

It was just after 8am when Sarah began to wake. Opening her eyes inside the bed she was laying in, she turned to the right of her to ascertain if the events of the previous day were just one big dream. She confirmed it wasn't, as Chuck, the shy but cute junior from her school, but now Tier One Delta Force operator, was still sleeping next to her.

Puffing out a sigh over the situation she now found herself in on her new assignment, she turned to look to the left of her to glance at the clock.

Having obtained the time, Sarah reluctantly climbed out of bed, and she headed for the bathroom to start her morning routine.

Departing the bathroom sometime later, she glanced at Chuck, and he was still sleeping, and he hadn't moved an inch since he had passed out just after midnight.

Should I wake him up? We have work to do today. But I don't know what time Graham will call us in. It might not be for a few more hours, but it could also be at any moment

Sarah paused in the spot she stood as she entered into deep thought. Every morning without fail, Sarah would always go for a run to start her day. She couldn't do that anymore, unless he now went along with her, because it was now her job to shadow and protect him, at all times, for the duration of the assignment. She sure as hell hoped that her new partner loved running, because she couldn't imagine having to go up to three years without doing it, that thought was quite sobering for her...

Now feeling depressed from her new situation, she spent the next few minutes ordering breakfast for two via room service.

Breakfast arrived a short while later, but Chuck continued to sleep through the noise of the breakfast tray passing over to Sarah.

Once more, Sarah contemplated waking him up. But with the procedure of him uploading a supercomputer to his brain, in addition to the anesthetic he had been given, she quickly came to the decision that he would need as much sleep as he could possibly get, so she left him in peace and she began to consume her breakfast...

Two hours later

Chuck was still sleeping, and Sarah was still inside of the hotel room, and she was now scratching her hair out in sheer and complete boredom. Sarah, at this exact moment, had never felt more bored in her entire life, and if this was just the first day, then god help how she would feel for the next three years on this assignment. After everything that had happened with her partnership with Bryce, with his infidelity towards her for three years, the last thing that Sarah wanted on this assignment was an objective where she would have to become intimately close to her partner, but that was precisely what Graham had now ordered her to do with Chuck, and she did not like it. However, while this assignment would undoubtedly play on her mind at times over the coming years, it was still better than falling in love with somebody who didn't love her, and hurting so deep inside whenever Sarah had uncovered his latest adventures with another woman. In fact, Sarah would go as far as to say that this assignment was paradise compared to how she had been living with Bryce for the past few years, and so, she would quite simply need to learn to suck it up.

Sarah was suddenly distracted from her thoughts when her phone began to ring. She moved to place the device into the palm of her hand, and she quickly ascertained that it was her boss calling her. Breathing out a short sigh, she answered the call. She didn't get a chance to speak, as Director Graham's absolute authority stopped her from doing so.

"Agent Walker, yourself and the Captain are requested as soon as possible at the same facility that you were at yesterday," the Director demanded.

Sarah frowned. "Immediately? He's still sleeping after the upload, and he hasn't had any breakfast yet," Sarah light protested over the wellbeing of her new partner.

The Director scoffed into the phone conversation for a long moment.

"Sarah, while I appreciate the wellbeing shown towards your new partner, there are far more important and more pressing matters in the world for the CIA to be concerned about other than whether Chuck has eaten his breakfast or not yet. He is not a baby that needs feeding, so if you could be so kind as to wake the Captain up, most ricky tick, and get him here now, then that would be lovely!" the Director said, and with that, he terminated the call.

Puffing out a more drawn out sigh to herself this time, Sarah then walked over to the bed, and she extended out her arm as she began to shake Chuck's body awake.

"Chuck? Wake up, Chuck," she called out.

"Tired," Chuck moaned in a complaint, and he threw the duvet over his head to shield his eyes from the sunlight.

Sarah shook him again, more firmly this time.

"Chuck, wake up," she said in a sharper and more commanding tone.

Chuck begrudgingly, and groggily began to lower the duvet, and his eyes squinted as he accustomed himself to the daylight inside the room.

"The Director requires your attendance," she said, gazing into his drowsy looking eyes.

"I'm hungry as hell," he complained.

She gave him a sympathetic smile. "Chuck, there's no time. I ordered room service for you last night, but you fell asleep. I also ordered breakfast for you this morning, but that's gone to waste too."

"Sorry," he said as he began to rub his eyes with his hands.

Sarah held her smile. "Chuck, it's ok. But we really don't have time. We need to leave," she stressed as she broke her gaze onto him, and she glanced at the main door to exit their now shared hotel room.

"I guess I'm going hungry. Can I at least use the bathroom?" he asked as moved to stand before he collected his personal sidearm and holster from where they had been placed near to the bed the night before.

"Yes. But you'll need to hurry."

A short while later

Chuck and Sarah were now on-route to the secure location housing the Intersect, and Sarah was driving them in her car.

She glanced at Chuck with a look of amazement as she drove. "Wow, Chuck, you really slept last night."

He shook his head. "Sarah, not really. It's only 11:30, and we didn't get back until after midnight. I'd been awake for almost 24 hours, I uploaded a supercomputer, and I had a sedative. With all of that considered, I probably could have slept for 18 hours. My head hurts like hell, and I'm starving. I haven't eaten since 5am yesterday," he complained.

"Chuck, I tried my best to help you with that problem," she said.

He sighed. "I know."

Sarah then continued driving for a few minutes, and the new partners entered into silence as Chuck attempted to wake himself when suddenly, Sarah flicked on her indicator, and she pulled off the road, and she parked up outside a row of shops.

"Sarah, what are we doing? I thought the Director wanted us ASAP?" Chuck inquired.

Pointing out of the windscreen, she said, "There's a bakery here. You can purchase some pastries to eat, but you'll need to hurry, and Chuck, I do mean HURRY."

Chuck smiled as he hurriedly unfastened his seatbelt. "Sarah, thank you."

Sarah returned the smile. "Hurry up! Before we both get into trouble!" she encouraged.

Chuck nodded as he quickly departed from the vehicle.

Sarah waited in pause for a few minutes until she observed as Chuck quickly returned to the car.

"Sarah, thank you for this. I have a suspicious feeling that I'll be kept until late tonight again, and I saw no opportunity to eat until at least 10pm tonight, so you have saved my life," he declared as he started to consume the purchased pastries.

She smiled. "And you'll have to save my life by not breathing a word about this to anybody today. I already had him down my ear when I attempted to buy you some time to eat just earlier, and if he finds out that I went against him, he won't be happy."

Chuck paused from eating to gaze at her once more. "Sarah, I won't even open my mouth. I'll let you make an excuse, I promise."

"Thank you."

O-o-O-o-O-o-O

Sarah pulled her car to a stop outside of the secure location housing the Intersect. The two partners quickly departed her vehicle as they were now running late, and they walked at a fast pace towards the entrance where Casey was already waiting.

"What took you so long, Bartowski?" Casey asked once they stopped at his location.

Chuck, remembering what Sarah had said in the car, kept his mouth shut and he let Sarah answer for him.

"It was my fault. I had to stop to use the bathroom," Sarah said.

Chuck kept his mouth completely closed, but on the inside, he was smirking, heavily.

Casey shook his head disapprovingly, and he turned, and he entered the facility, and Chuck and Sarah followed him inside.

Yawning, Chuck said, "You missed out on a good party last night, Case."

Casey snapped his head back to glare at Chuck in disgust, which caused both Chuck and Sarah to smirk.

"So, what does the boss have in store for us today?" Chuck asked.

"Not we. You. And in answer to your question, lots of tests. And hopefully, they'll be painful ones," Casey said.

Chuck winced. "That's not very nice, Case."

"Then stop calling me 'Case,' and maybe you'll get a better answer," Casey said.

"Ok, Case," Chuck replied, causing Casey to grunt, and Sarah to have to fight off her laughter.

The three new partners continued walking through the facility for a few minutes until they came to a stop in the presence of Director Graham.

"That wasn't very ASAP," Graham said as he rotated his glance between Chuck and Sarah.

"I'm sorry. It was my fault. I had to stop to use the bathroom. I wasn't feeling good," Sarah lied.

Director Graham sunk his eyebrows to a frown as he continued to shift his glance between Chuck and Sarah, before shaking his head in displeasure, and he proceeded to open a door, and the three partners followed him inside.

"An MRI scan of your brain will take place today, Chuck, and the rest of the day will then be spent with Intersect related tests as we check its performance. General Beckman is also working on finalizing your new credentials, and they will be ready by this evening. You will assume a cover identity as a one, Charles Carmichael."

Chuck nodded as he followed Graham to a group of NSA and CIA workers.

"I will leave the Captain in your care, doctor," Graham said to the NSA doctor.

The doctor nodded at Graham, and he then smiled at Chuck.

"How are you feeling today, Captain Bartowski?" the doctor asked.

"Aside from a nasty headache, pretty good, I think?" Chuck said.

"Well, we'll be able to give you something for that right now. Aside from that, are you experiencing any memory issues?"

Chuck mused over the NSA doctor's question for a short moment as he began to think of hard to remember events and information that had taken place throughout his life.

"Um, I don't appear to be experiencing any. I can still remember a lot of things that are hard to remember," Chuck said.

"That is good news. So, once the MRI scan has taken place, extensive tests will then take place for most of the day. In the tests, you will be shown many images. Some will be regular images, such as a palm tree. But many will be images related to the Intersect, and we will be testing your retention of the information that was uploaded to you yesterday."

"That sounds fine," Chuck said.

"Great. Then let us begin."

O-o-O-o-O-o-O

"I'm afraid that neither of you will have much work for the next few days. Chuck will be busy for most of the week as a vast number of tests take place to assess the Intersect's performance. Next week, however, that's when your real assignment will begin," Director Graham said to Sarah and Casey as they stood idle while they all observed Chuck's MRI scan taking place.

"Glad to hear it," Casey said.

"You will be based primarily out of Washington. Chuck's cover is that he will be the CEO of a newly formed Private Military Company. The cover is perfect because it will provide your team with the ability to travel worldwide to the locations that the Intersect will undoubtedly send you to on your missions. You will both be board members of the company," the Director paused to let the information sink in. "Casey, you met Chuck during your time in the military together."

Casey nodded.

"And Sarah, you first met Chuck at school together. You had a thing for each other at school and began to date for real once you both left."

Casey grunted, and Sarah glanced at her partner, and he smirked at her, and she averted her gaze away from him in embarrassment.

The Director was about to continue on, but he paused all thought as an NSA analyst almost barged headfirst into him, causing him to frown in distaste.

"Sir, you are wanted immediately at the Intersect computer! It's under a sophisticated cyber-attack!" the analyst shouted in a frenzied state.

"WHAT?!" Director Graham blazed out as he immediately began dashing in a sprint in the direction of the Intersect, and Sarah, Casey, and the analyst quickly followed on behind.

"How could this happen?!" Graham shouted as he sped towards the Intersect.

"We're not sure!" The analyst shouted back as the party of four continued to hurry at speed to the Intersect.

"Then find out, damn it! And get this fixed!" Graham shouted as he arrived at the Intersect, and he entered into the control room, and Sarah, Casey, and the analyst followed him inside.

The chief analyst in charge of the running of the Intersect then approached the small party.

"Sir, there is a sophisticated worm attacking the Intersect! We need more personnel here to fight it!" the lead analyst shouted.

"Then phone in every available personnel in the entire CIA and NSA if that's what it takes! But get this attack under control and find out how the hell it happened!" Graham shouted, and the lead analyst nodded, and he quickly rushed back to the control panel…

A short while later

Sarah, Casey, and Graham were still inside of the control room of the Intersect when General Beckman entered the room.

The general quickly linked up with the two agents and the CIA director.

"Langston, what is happening?" General Beckman asked.

"I'm still waiting to find out, Diane. Manoosh, get over here!" Director Graham shouted.

Manoosh Depak, the lead analyst, quickly rushed over to the small party.

"Sir, ma'am, we are struggling to contain the worm attack. We first noticed abnormalities when the cipher was inserted. We thought it was a glitch until the worm activated and it came online. It is highly sophisticated, and we are talking government level sophistication," Manoosh explained.

"Find out who is responsible for this!" Director Graham said.

"We are trying, sir," Manoosh said.

"And fix this!" General Beckman demanded.

"I'm not sure we can," Manoosh admitted, and Director Graham glared at him in response.

O-o-O-o-O-o-O

"Well, the scan has come back completely fine, Captain Bartowski," the NSA doctor said.

"Great," Chuck replied.

"We will now proceed with the rest of today's tests if you're ready?" the lead doctor asked.

Chuck nodded. "I am."

"Very well. If you'd like to follow me?" the doctor said.

Chuck followed the doctor for a minute until they arrived inside a room. The doctor then led Chuck towards a sofa in front of a wall-mounted TV.

"If you'd like to take a seat?" the doctor said.

Chuck nodded, and he moved to take a seat on the sofa.

"We will be showing you many pictures via the television screen now. There will be some trick photographs which bear no relevance to the Intersect, please call out what you see in those, in addition to the authentic pictures also."

"Ok," Chuck said, and the first picture quickly appeared on the screen.

"A dog," Chuck said.

The next picture promptly appeared. "Hippopotamus."

Followed by the next. "Fat guy."

The next picture soon appeared on the screen. "Ugly building."

Followed by another. "Really beautiful woman at the beach."

Followed by another, which was a picture of a flower, and Chuck quickly flashed on the image, and in a short second, Chuck had accessed the information from the Intersect pertaining to what was hidden in the picture. "Cardinal One is the top Moscow spy in the White House," he declared.

Another picture appeared on the television, and it was a picture of a traditional London taxi, but Chuck immediately flashed on the image. "Operation Blackbeard. A CIA capture team intercepted an Iranian nuclear physicist in Istanbul."

The next picture then arrived on screen. "The Los Angeles secret service office intercepted stolen currency plates from the Triads in Operation Eagle Claw."

Followed by the next. "Boris Godunov, a known associate of Carlos the Jackal, was apprehended in Paris."

Followed by another. "Postmaster General intercepts multiple anthrax filled envelopes in Operation Powder Puff."

And another. "Assassin Natasha Fatale is suspected in suspicious deaths of three Japanese computer scientists working in Hong Kong."

Image after image continued to display for the Delta Force operator to analyze for the next hour, while in another part of the government facility, a serious conversation was ongoing.

"Sir, ma'am, the worm is out of control. It's totally out of our depth. The worm is beginning to download the data from the Intersect, and we must physically destroy the computer to force it offline. It's the only way to stop the attack," Manoosh said to General Beckman and Director Graham.

"Over my dead body!" Director Graham said in defiance.

"Depak, is there no other way?" General Beckman asked.

Manoosh shook his head. "No, ma'am. The worm is too sophisticated. If we don't destroy the Intersect at its source and do it quickly, then whoever is doing this will have full access to the entire contents of what Captain Bartowski uploaded just yesterday."

"We have spent years on this project. It has cost a lot of time and money. And now you're telling us that we have to destroy our project?" General Beckman asked in disbelief.

"Madness!" Director Graham blazed out.

Manoosh nodded. "I understand. I've been on this project for years, and to lose years of our work doesn't sit easy with any of us, sir, ma'am, but this worm is out of our capabilities, and it's highly sophisticated. If we don't destroy the Intersect, then somebody is about to steal our entire project to use for their own sinister reasons, which I'm sure that none of us want," he argued.

"Who is responsible for this?" General Beckman asked.

"It's certainly state-sponsored. They have attempted to conceal their signature, but I believe that we'll be able to trace the source," Manoosh said.

Director Graham pointed at Manoosh in anger. "You find out who did this! And when you do, I want their rotten heads served to me on a plate!" he said in anger.

"Yes, sir," Manoosh said in fear.

Sarah and Casey turned to look at each other. Casey then began to mouth, "What now?" and Sarah quickly mouthed back, "I don't know."

The two spies then turned to look at their bosses once more.

"What happens now, General, Director?" Sarah asked.

Beckman and Graham turned to look at their subordinate spies.

"Now, we take Depak's warning as fact, and we destroy a project that has cost us years of time, and lots of money, to prevent it from falling into the wrong hands. And then we will rebuild. But be assured, once we find out who did this, we'll be sending you both to do what you both do best," General Beckman said.

O-o-O-o-O-o-O

A short while later

Chuck was still inside the room that was being used for himself and the NSA personnel to analyze his retention capabilities of the Intersect. The process of evaluating the images was still continuing when Chuck and the staff inside the room were alerted to an explosion that had just occurred inside the facility.

Chuck was instantly on his feet, and he quickly rushed out of the room, with the NSA personnel following him out into the hallway where an alarm was blaring throughout the complex. On arrival in the hall, Chuck dashed along it at a rapid pace, and he unholstered his sidearm as he ran in search of the explosion. Exiting the hallway, he entered into another one, and he could see Sarah and Casey at the far end of the hall. They were stood outside of the room housing the Intersect, and smoke was escaping out into the hallway from where a door used to be.

Chuck quickly paced over to his two partners with his sidearm still drawn in his hand, and he came to a stop in their vicinity. "What the hell was that?!" he asked, shifting his glance between the two spies.

"They just blew up the Intersect," Casey declared.

Chuck narrowed his eyes, and he shot his head back in disbelief to query his partner's statement. "Why the hell would they do that?" he asked.

"There was a sophisticated worm attacking the computer, and they were about to have the entire contents of the Intersect stolen, and the lead analyst had the Director blow it up," Sarah informed him.

Casey nodded. "Yeah, and I can tell you right now, Graham is not happy."

Chuck continued to shift his glance between his two partners, and the soldier and spies paused in wait for a short while until Director Graham and General Beckman arrived at their location.

"It looks like you're all that's left of our project, Captain Bartowski. God help us," Director Graham lamented.

Chuck had to bite his tongue to stop himself from snarling at the CIA director's latest sly comment made towards him.

The small posse then entered inside the blown out door that used to house the Intersect, but all that was left of the computer now was smoke, ash, and fire.

"What happens now?" Casey asked, glancing around the small posse.

"Now, we find out who did this, and then you capture or kill them, but preferably kill them," Director Graham said, affording each of the three partners a glance.

The party of five then began to survey the blown-out room for a long moment while the fire alarm continued to bellow out into the facility until the Director broke the pause in their conversation, "WILL SOMEBODY TURN OFF THAT MOTHERFUCKING ALARM?!" he fumed in anger, as he quickly stormed off to another location to find a way to turn off the blasted alarm.

Chuck waited until Director Graham was out of earshot before he turned to face Casey. "You're right, he is angry," he said with a smirk.

Casey grunted while Sarah nodded.

Glancing at Chuck, Beckman said, "The stakes just got a lot higher, Captain Bartowski."

"Yes, ma'am," Chuck said in agreement.

"What does this mean for the Captain's protection moving forward, General?" Casey asked.

"For now, nothing changes. The measures already pre-agreed upon were already stringent, and I do not foresee any additional security enhancements," General Beckman declared.

O-o-O-o-O-o-O

Washington D.C.

Lizzie Shafai arrived at a park in the capital. Glancing around the park for a short moment, she finally became satisfied she wasn't followed here. Lizzie then began to walk with purpose over towards a Filipino looking man, who was stood overlooking a pond in the park.

"Why did you request this meeting? You know the protocol for arranging a drop," the man said in an American accent without looking at her.

"You need to abort the attack plans. The Intersect has been destroyed," Lizzie said to the male.

"You're joking!" the male replied, and he broke protocol to turn to glance at her instead.

She shook her head.

"How did that happen?" the man asked.

"I'm not sure," Lizzie declared.

"Then find out!" he said in frustration.

"I'll try. Director Graham is very cautious in revealing much. I can't push too hard in case my cover is blown," Lizzie said.

"I'm not even sure if the plans can be canceled, they are far advanced. It may already be in motion. The attack was for tonight," the man declared.

"Tommy, I hope for our sake that it can, because if the attack has already commenced, then Fulcrum will be attacking an empty facility," Lizzie said.

"God damnit!" Tommy fumed in anger. "Keep me informed."

"I will," Lizzie replied.

The two Fulcrum agents then began to walk away from each other, and Lizzie quickly departed the park to return to her office.

O-o-O-o-O-o-O

Chuck and Sarah arrived back and they entered their hotel room. With the events that transpired culminating in the destruction of the Intersect computer, nobody inside the facility was in the mood for any further testing for today, so Chuck had been dismissed by General Beckman for the day, and the three partners had retired for the evening.

"That pompous ass! I'm growing tired already of his sly comments made towards me at every opportunity!" Chuck declared as he shook his head in frustration, and he ran his hands through his hair.

Sarah smiled comfortingly. "Chuck, I'm sorry. You didn't deserve that."

"It looks like you're all that's left of our project, Captain Bartowski!" Chuck said in a mocking tone of voice, which caused Sarah to suppress a laugh.

"After a long day of testing and the exhausting events of the previous day, I don't need this crap! By the end of this assignment, he will be lucky if I haven't put his face through a wall," he admitted in a wound-up state of mind.

"And then you'll wind up in jail," Sarah declared.

"A small price to pay," Chuck argued.

"You'll also lose your career," she reminded him.

"Ok, now that's too great a price to pay," he said with a grin.

Sarah nodded in agreement as she held her comforting smile.

Chuck puffed out a long sigh. "I guess I'll use the bathroom to cool off!"

"I kind of wanted to use it myself," Sarah admitted.

"Just great! We're already tripping over each other's feet," he stated.

"Chuck, it's not easy for me either. I woke up this morning wanting to go for a jog, but I couldn't because you were unconscious, and it's now my job to go where you go. You're not the only one having to adjust to these circumstances, you know?" she protested.

He nodded in concession. "You're right. For the record, I love my fitness, so you won't be held hostage for too long. I'll probably be too tired for most of this week to engage in any fitness activity. However, by the weekend, I will be engaging in numerous endurance activities, I can assure you."

The two partners shared a warm glance. "That's comforting to know. The thought of potentially going without exercise wasn't sitting well with me," she admitted.

Grinning, he joked, "I can imagine. You wouldn't remain a super-spy for long if you weighed two-hundred plus pounds."

Sarah laughed softly. "No, I wouldn't."

"You probably wouldn't win too many beauty contests either," he stated.

She suppressed laughter. "Now, why would entering into a beauty contest even cross my mind?"

"Um, because you're too beautiful, not too?" he deadpanned with a grin.

Sarah shook her head, and she gave him a warm smile. "You can use the bathroom now."

Chuck frowned briefly. "Are you sure? Because ladies are supposed to go first," he protested.

She nodded. "I'm sure. Because you evidently need to cool down, whereas I don't."

Chuck nodded. "Fair enough. If you insist, then I'll be quick."

"I do," she said.

He nodded once more before he turned away, and Chuck moved over to where his gear was stored, and he collected some loungewear from out of his pack before he proceeded into the bathroom, and he closed the door.

When he returned into the main area of the hotel room sometime later, Sarah was sitting on the bed. She quickly rose to stand, and taking hold of some items of clothing she had already collected, she entered into the bathroom, and she closed the door.

Departing the bathroom sometime later, her gaze connected onto Chuck, who was lazing on the bed.

"I ordered some room service. You might not like it, but seeing as you did the same for me last night, I returned the favor," he said.

"Thank you. And I know. I heard it arrive," she declared.

"Of course you did. I would be disappointed if you hadn't have heard it, though with you taking so long, I thought you'd fallen asleep," he joked, and he quickly began to chuckle as Sarah gave him a brief glare over his comment.

Sarah then consumed the food that Chuck had ordered, while Chuck had already eaten.

Once she had finished eating, Chuck said, "I hope you liked it, I didn't know what to order you. I'll have to start studying what you eat for future reference."

Sarah frowned in surprise. "That's slightly concerning, and also a little intimate and spooky," she admitted with a smile.

He shook his head. "Nope, that's just me being friendly. I don't know about you, but I certainly didn't take this assignment for romance. I promise to keep my hands to myself, and you're safe to get in bed. You have my word as an officer and a gentleman."

"I didn't take the assignment for romance either. In fact, I took it to escape it," she declared.

He nodded.

"Also, if you didn't keep your hands to yourself, you would quickly end up with an injury," she said with a smirk.

"Fair enough," he said nonchalantly.

The new partners shared a warm gaze, and Sarah moved to climb into her side of the bed.

They then entered into silence for several minutes, as they relaxed, and they began to watch the television inside the room.

"Can I admit something?" Chuck asked as he broke the silence, and he turned to gaze at Sarah lying next to him.

"Sure?" she said.

"It feels a bit weird sleeping next to my partner. In my six years of being in the military, I can't say I've ever slept with a teammate before," he joked.

Sarah suppressed a laugh. "It is weird. Especially considering we went to school together," she said.

Chuck nodded emphatically in agreement. "I know, right?"

They shared a warm gaze from where they lay.

"Have you ever had to do it before, as a spy?" he asked.

Holding their gaze, she shook her head in deflection, feeling unwilling to let her new partner know about the situation concerning Bryce, who she had done a lot more than just sleep next to.

Chuck then started to yawn for a short moment. "Sarah, I know it's kind of early, and at the risk of being lousy company for you, I kind of need to sleep. I hope you don't mind?"

Smiling at him, she shook her head. "Spies are taught to sleep whenever we can, because who knows when we'll next be able to," she stated.

He chuckled for a short moment, and he returned her smile. "How peculiar, soldiers are taught the same thing," he said. "If you want to leave the television on, you can. Trust me, I've slept through a lot worse than a television set being left on."

Sarah held her warm glance. "I'm sure you have, but I'm actually tired too," she admitted.

He nodded. "Well, goodnight then," he said softly.

"Goodnight," she replied in the same tone, and they shared a final gaze before they turned away to face opposite sides, and the spy and the soldier soon drifted off into a peaceful slumber.

End of Chapter

Next Chapter: The next chapter will be the final period of testing, in addition to moving into their cover, and personal relationships between the three partners will be built upon a little more.

I will try to get the next chapter out quickly, but I can't make promises. I'm working on things behind the scenes right now. Expressed feedback will go a long way to convince me to publish faster, however!