Disclaimer: I don't own Intelligence. This story is for entertainment purposes only and means no copyright infringement whatsoever. Please do not publish without my explicit consent.

Author's note: This is a tag to "Athens". The story happens a few years in the future when Riley and Gabriel have been partners for a few years. Some of the missions that Lillian and Dr Cassidy talk about are things that I made up for the purpose of this fic. I hope you liked it.

"Agent Vaughn, remain where you are. That's an order." Adam Weatherly, Director of National Intelligence said with a steady and commanding tone.

"I can't do that, sir. My partner's being detained and probably tortured for information and every second now she could be dead." Gabriel refused to let go and Lillian admired his determination. "She was captured because of me."

"That is her job, Agent Vaughn. She was tasked to protect you and she did." Weatherly made his point. "If we receive any intelligence that she is still alive, we will put together a rescue team." That wouldn't be enough and Lillian knew it. The more they waited, the slimmer the chances were to find Riley alive. All she could think of were the consequences of losing her agent. For the team but mostly for Gabriel. If something happened to Riley, he would be more unpredictable than ever.

"Are you kidding me? No team will be able to enter the compound. Nelson couldn't hack into their system. The only reason we were able to get inside was because I was tracking and disabling cameras with the chip. And the more we wait, the more time they have to upgrade their security. If we wait, we'll get Riley's body in the Potomac. If we're really lucky, that is."

"And the only reason you got out alive was because Agent Neal sacrificed herself. Going back there would make her sacrifice vain and would risk Clockwork falling into enemy hands and I am not going to allow that." And there it was. The one sentence that could set Gabriel off more than anything else. Lillian knew that she had to stop her agent from doing something foolish but Gabriel was faster.

"Is that what you care about so much? Your precious Clockwork?" With that he approached the man standing before him, ignoring any sense of hierarchy. "Let me tell you something, sir. I am Clockwork. I am a volunteer. And the day I decide that I don't want to take part of this anymore is the day your precious project goes to the archives. And if you leave my partner there to die, I'm inclined to decide so."

"Are you threatening me?" Gabriel tried to respond but Lilian cut him off.

"Of course not, sir." Lillian cut in the conversation telling Gabriel to shut up with a single look. Gabriel had broken the eggs, now she had to try to make an eatable omelette out of them. "What Agent Vaughn is saying is that the efficiency of this program is due to the cohesion of the team in charge of it. Every single member of that team is essential to its success. Agent Neal included. And the loss of a single person is going to affect the entire project."

"I understand that but we can't risk the entire program because an asset may or may not be alive." Lillian could almost see anger boiling inside Gabriel. It was Amelia all over again. Only this time, she knew that there was no coming back for him. If Riley died, he'd be as good as dead too.

"That asset is a living and hopefully still breathing person. Not some toy that you can leave behind and replace. She has risked her life for her country more times than any of us can count. I understand the stakes. Believe me, I do. But this is my agency and when one of my people shows that kind of selflessness we back them up and show them that what they are fighting for is worth it." Before Weatherly could say anything, she continued. "We already know how the compound functions and Gabriel doesn't need to be inside as long as before because he knows the building already. Agent Jameson will accompany him and a team will be outside in case anything goes wrong."

"I have a better idea." Gabriel said. "We pretend to take up on Lee's offer: me in exchange for Riley."

"Out of the question." The DNI stated.

"Let me finish." Gabriel continued. "Most of the people in that building are hired guns. They don't have any idea what this really is about. Only Lee and maybe a few people of his personal guard know about Clockwork. We don't have to infiltrate the compound again. We agree to an exchange but we set the place."

"He'll go for it. He will not want to risk this offer being a way in for us." Jameson added. "And he only knows that there is a man with a chip in his brain. He doesn't know that Gabriel is that man. I say: we choose a place and surround it with Special Forces. I go in and pretend to be the one with the chip. And before they know what's going on, we take them out." Lillian couldn't help but smile internally at how her agent was doing his best for their colleague.

"Or we end up in the same situation with Agent Neal out and you taken hostage." Weatherly had always been a tough nut to crack.

"You won't. We'll have the upper hand this time." Jamison said.

"And even if we end up somewhere without cam footage, I can still access building structures and check in the thermal data from a satellite."

"And you'll be connected to us all the time. I have extra small microphones that Gabriel will be able to turn on and off in case they check you for wires." Nelson added.

"It's a solid plan, sir." Jameson said.

"Fine. But Agent Vaughn will be accompanied by a Special Forces soldier who will pull him out if anything goes wrong." Weatherly agreed to the plan and Lillian felt some relief. Lillian knew that one Special Forces soldier wouldn't be able to stop Gabriel if he decided to look for Riley solo but she hoped that they wouldn't get there. "Miss Strand, a word."

"Yes, sir." Both of them went to the corridor.

"Is there anything going on here that I should be aware of, Lillian?" He asked.

"With regards to what?" Lillian knew very well what Weatherly was talking about but preferred to opt for plausible deniability.

"Agent Vaughn is very concerned about his partner's wellbeing. A little too concerned, if you ask me." Straight to the point of course. "You do know that fraternization with a fellow officer is frowned upon."

"Adam, I am well aware of the fraternization policy of my own agency, thank you very much." Lillian said but Weatherly gave her an all-knowing look. "As for Gabriel and Riley, you and I know all too well what it is to be out in the field and rely on someone for your life. You feel compelled to return the favour when the time comes." She wasn't lying. Not completely anyway.

"So I should not be worried about any personal feelings compromising the asset?" Weatherly asked with a hint of doubt in his voice like he did pretty much every time they talked about Gabriel. "We both remember how uncontrollable he was when he was looking for his wife or when someone close to him was involved in a case."

"What makes Gabriel such a good asset, as you call him, is that he has personal feelings. He is driven by courage, honour and loyalty. As I've said many times before, he is by far one of the best agents that I have ever worked with. Now if you excuse me, I have an agent to rescue." With that she returned to the conference room where she saw Nelson and Jameson checking out potential meets. Gabriel was in a corner of the room looking blankly in space suggesting that he was looking for something on the grid. "Where are we with the plan?" She asked.

"Lee took the bait." Nelson said and they started discussing the Op.

Later that day Lillian was making her way to Dr Cassidy's lab. The Op hadn't gone exactly the way they had planned but that wasn't anything new. In the end Riley was safe, Lee's crew was gone, and Clockwork would live to see another day. So Lillian called that a victory.

Nevertheless, what had happened that day confirmed something that Lillian had known for a while: Gabriel was just a loan. And the term of that loan was fast approaching. She took a deep breath and knocked on the door before entering.

"Lillian. Come in. Come in. Since when do you knock?" Cassidy asked with his usual smile.

"I… didn't want to startle you." Lillian answered. "Gabriel called: Riley's going to be fine. She'll spend the night at the hospital but she'll be good to go home tomorrow. She'll be back to work by the end of next week if she passes her psych eval. And Jameson's pride was more wounded than his head, so he'll be in charge of Gabriel's safety until Riley gets back." She took a deep breath.

"Sounds like something you could have told me over the phone. What's on your mind?" The doc had always been very perceptive.

"Gabriel." She simply said.

"Ah. Nelson told me what happened downstairs. You think that he would have quit the program?"

"I know for a fact that he would have quit the program." She said worry in her voice. She made her way to the desk and sat on Cassidy's chair.

"May I be honest with you?"

"Aren't you always?" She smiled. "Go on. Whatever you say will stay between us."

"I've been waiting for this day to come for a while. We all have. Day by day, they grew closer together." Cassidy said with a smile. "When Gabriel started this program he was angry and quite frankly broken. I've always considered him as a gift: an answer to our hopes. And Riley, well, she was an answered to our prayers. She pulled him back on his feet and picked up the pieces. She was there for him not only as his partner but also as his friend. Without asking anything in return."

"She always saw the good in him and never gave up." Lillian smiled.

"Even when he put her life in danger." Cassidy continued. "Do you remember the first time Mei Chen went after Gabriel. He almost killed Riley on that plane to London, and she still took his side." Lillian nodded. "Even through the most manipulative schemes that Mei Chen concocted over the years."

"That bitch just wouldn't give up." Lillian smiled again recalling how many times Mei Chen had tried to seduce Gabriel into joining her and creating a so called next generation together and how Riley was the one to kill her in the end during what Lillian could only assume was a 'stay away from my man' moment.

"And then there was Texas." Cassidy continued narrating Gabriel and Riley's story. "Do you remember that viral epidemic when they were almost burned down and he got infected too because he didn't want to leave her behind?"

"When he told me he had the suspect in custody and needed a chopper on location, he asked me to hurry. There was concern in his voice: he managed to say so much with so little words."

"We could stay here all night recalling every single detail of their missions and look for clues. But if you ask me, Teheran changed the game."

"The two of them boxed up for 10 hours in a nuclear plant not knowing whether they were being exposed to radiation and wondering if a nuclear bomb was being made next door, you bet it did. I'm still wondering how they made it out alive." Lillian commented.

"They discovered something worth living for." Cassidy stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Gabriel has always proved that whatever training you're given, it's your heart that gives you the strength to make all difficult decisions. It's your moral compass."

"And she has been his North Star for a while." Lillian finally said what she had known for years. "Even before Teheran, or Milan, or LA."

"Yes."

"Do you remember when Jin Kong broke in Cyber Com back in 2014?" Lillian asked.

"How could I not? One of my sons was being held at gunpoint and the other was being manipulated into divulging a list allowing to target innocent children." Cassidy's voice trembled.

"We were down in the basement." Lillian got up and started pacing through the lab. "Jin Kong and his computer guy were running out of the building. I was tied up. It was Gabriel versus Riley. He reached for his gun with the clear intention of getting kill of us and I … I ordered her to…"

"You ordered Riley to shoot Gabriel?" He didn't even try to disguise the blame in his voice.

"What was I supposed to do? He was compromised. For all I knew, he was going to kill us both the moment he touched that gun and give the list to Jin Kong. That's not my point. Riley refused to listen to me. She put her gun on the ground and started talking to him about his feelings and emotions. She knew what leaving her gun meant and still preferred dying by his hand than hurting him in any way. That moment that they shared down there… The way they looked each other… The words that they exchanged… People say that making love is the most intimate you can get with a person but they're wrong. What happened between them that night reached a whole new level of intimacy. I was worried about the list and our lived but all I could think of was that I shouldn't have been there. I was an intruder." They remained silent for a few moments.

"Gabriel never talked about that." Cassidy said.

"I'm not surprised. That was their moment. And theirs only. It was beautiful, really." She looked at her colleague. "That's when I knew. They weren't there yet. Neither of them was ready. Especially not Gabriel: he was still getting over Amelia, and his trust issues. And Riley was still an 'I respect orders' kind of person. But the spark was there."

"Why are you telling me this?" Cassidy asked and she saw the fear in his eyes. She didn't answer. "You're afraid that you won't have him around for much longer." Cassidy obviously understood her concern. "Lillian, he has given everything he possibly can for this country. He deserves a little happiness in his life."

"You think I don't know that? I lied to the Director of National Intelligence today today. He asked me if anything was going on between Riley and Gabriel and I said no because I didn't want Riley to be transferred. I've been covering for them for years so that they can figure out what they mean to each other."

"Because if anyone finds out that they are in a personal relationship, they will transfer her. And the moment that happens, he'll be gone." Cassidy finished her sentence thought.

"He thinks he can pull out." She was in a difficult position in which she it was her job to protect the program but her heart wanted nothing more than her people's wellbeing.

"He can't, can he?" It was a statement more than a question.

"If we stop Clockwork now, it will be a major setback." Lillian said.

"You're afraid that someone will try to force him to stay possibly using Riley." She nodded. "That's why you wanted to talk to me. You need my help to keep Clockwork going."

"I need your help to protect Gabriel. And Riley." She stood up and approached him. "Over the years, do you have any idea how many times I have had to argue with the DOD and the CIA that Gabriel can be trusted and is not going to turn on us? But I'm afraid that I can protect him from them alone any more." She took a deep breath and tried to cover the panic in her voice.

"What do we do?" The doctor asked.

"I don't know." Cassidy had rarely seen her so much helplessness in her eyes. "But I'm afraid to find out what will happen if Gabriel wants to pull out and I don't have a replacement volunteer to offer."

That's where I choose to end this story. I know it looks unfinished but it was about the talk between Lillian and the doc. I added the first part to put that talk in context. However, if you want me to, I can write a sequel.