**** PART ONE ****

Nahla walked into Munitions early that morning wanting to finish a project she had been working on for over a week now. Although it really wasn't that early, the work area was dark when she arrived. That really wasn't surprising; Walter had probably stayed late tinkering on a new gadget.

"Nahla?" boomed a voice, seemingly from nowhere.

Jumping nearly a foot in surprise, she took a quick moment to calm herself. "Sir?"

"My office. Now."

"On my way." Nahla said. These times were few, but she hated being called to the Perch. Normally if Operations needed something from Munitions, he went through Walter.

As she crossed the central hub of Section, Nahla looked up to find the Perch dark. That couldn't be good. "You needed to see me?" she asked as she climbed up the last step and stood with her hands clasped in front of her, hoping that Operations wouldn't notice the slight tremor that shook them.

"Yes. We have a mission for you," he replied with that lopsided smile of his.

Nahla cocked her head to the side, "We, sir?"

"Yes, Madeline will be joining us momentarily," he replied. They waited in silence until Madeline entered into the room from the opposing staircase and moved to stand beside Operations.

Operations then turned Nahla's attention to one of the numerous vid screens that decorated the back wall of the Perch. "This is Mr. Domingo Vitriani. For the past several years he has been a key player in smuggling high grade opium to third world countries."

Nahla stood with a confused expression on her face. What did Section One want with a drug smuggler? Wasn't this something the local authorities could handle? And why were they telling her?

"Our concern is not with his narcotic activities, but that he is using the profits from his sales to fund a coup against the local government. His security is extremely tight and a full team assault is not advisable. We can only send in a single operative to get close to him and draw him out," he continued to explain. "That's going to be your job."

That caused Nahla's jaw to literally drop. "Me? But I'm not a cold operative, what good can I possibly do."

"This isn't a mission for a cold operative, it's a valentine mission." Madeline corrected.

"V-V-Valentine??" Nahla stuttered. "You can't possibly mean that!" In her state of shock, it didn't occur to her that she was beginning an argument with Section's leaders.

"Oh, but we do." Operations said. "We know you don't have the training to actually bring him in on your own, but we can use you as bait."

"You see, Mr. Vitriani has a certain weakness for innocent young women. Particularly tall blondes with green eyes." Madeline explained, reaching out with a hand to lightly brush the hair back out of Nahla's face. "You fit the required profile perfectly, that's why you were chosen." It was all Nahla could do not to flinch at Madeline's action.

"But can't you use a trained valentine operative?" Nahla asked, turning her head to look at Operations.

"We've already tried that," Operations explained. "But Mr. Vitriani is very particular in the women he chooses. And he's not one to be taken for a fool. If he senses any kind of foul play, it doesn't bode well for the women."

Nahla was really wishing that someone would pinch her and wake her up from this nightmare, for that's surely what it had to be. Of any operative, she had to be one of the least qualified when it came to fieldwork simply because she'd never *been* out in the field. Her expertise was all behind the scenes.

"Vitriani doesn't respond favourably to actresses trying to portray innocence," Madeline chimed in. "He wants the real deal."

Sheer panic led Nahla to ask her next question. "And if I don't agree to do it?"

"You have the same option any other operative in Section has," Operation replied. "Do the job, or be cancelled."

Nahla visibly paled before them, using everything she had to remain on her feet. "When do I leave?"

Operations smiled. "Our window of opportunity is very small and we need to move quickly. Everything you need to know will be downloaded to a panel, you can pick it up this afternoon from Birkoff." Operations explained. "You leave at 6am tomorrow morning. Today you will proceed with your normal routine, but this evening you'll meet with Madeline to get your wardrobe and to go over any last minute details."

"Is that all?" she asked, at a loss for anything else to say.

"Yes, you may return to your post." Operations said.

She simply nodded, then turned to descend the staircase.

Gazing out the Perch window, Operations and Madeline watched Nahla return to Munitions. "She's perfect." Madeline commented.

"Oh yes," Operations replied with a sinister smile. "This is even better than we could have hoped for. Her fear is going to snare him and trap him like a lion in a cage.

Madeline returned his smile. "Of course."

Below in Munitions, Nahla didn't even acknowledge Walter's presence as she took her seat at the workbench.

"Hey sweetness, where have you... what's wrong?" Walter asked, noticing the lack of colour in her face.

Nahla made no sign that she had even heard him. When Walter snapped his fingers in front of her face a couple of times, her eyes finally focused on her friend and partner. "I'm sorry Walter, what did you say?"

"I asked if you were alright, you're looking a might pale there. Everything ok?"

Nahla didn't respond immediately to his question, debating whether or not she should tell him. "I'm fine, Walter." she replied, deciding for now that keeping quiet was probably best until she found a way to break the news to Jace first.

"Ok, sure, if you say so." Walter replied, not completely believing her, but deciding not to make an issue of it. If she wanted to confide in him, she knew he'd be there for her.

As she got busy on her project, several thoughts flew threw her mind. How in the world was she going to explain this to Jace? Could their relationship handle this? Could *he* handle this?

Could *she* handle it?

**** PART TWO ****

The morning proved to be pretty uneventful, but when lunchtime rolled around Nahla headed down to Medlab to check in and see how Aries' recovery was going. She passed by Genie and DeLeah, who were quietly chatting off to the side. Sherry, Rita and North were retreating down the opposite hallway, probably heading back to their offices.

A glimpse through the door's window showed Aries' was asleep, but Marco wasn't with her, which seemed strange since he'd been at her side 24/7 since Jessica had shot her.

Knocking on Jace's office door, Nahla quickly stepped inside. (Per Aries - "Jessica's Demise - Part 5) "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt anything!" Nahla said when she saw the two sitting there. She started to turn and leave the two alone but Jace stopped her and Marco stood up.

"That's ok. You weren't. I was just going back to check on Aries." Marco said and exited the room throwing Jace one more glare before finally exiting.

Nahla walked over and sat down on Jace's lap. "Now what exactly was that all about?" Nahla asked a bit confused and worried.

"Not much. Aries woke up but her vitals are not strong enough for her to be in the clear yet. I asked Marco in here to tell him that and being in the position he's in, he threatened me to make her live. It's perfectly understandable." Jace said hugging Nahla close to him. "I would do the same thing if I was in his position."

"Yeah. He's really worried about her isn't he?" Nahla asked softly putting her arms around him and holding him close.

"Yeah, he is. He loves her even though he has not admitted it. I hope she pulls through this." Jace said and laid his head down on her shoulder.

"So do I." Nahla said and then let silence fall around them thanking God that it was not them that was going through this ordeal. (end Aries "Jessica's Demise - Part 5)

Nahla idly ran her fingers through Jace's hair, lost in her own thoughts. She wanted so badly to tell him about the mission, but just couldn't, not with the chance that it might end their relationship. Without realising it, her arms tightened considerably around Jace at that thought.

"Sweetie, you might want to ease up there a little or I won't be able to breathe."

"Huh?" she asked, his voice bringing her back out of her reverie. "Oh! Sorry!" She then said, easing her grip, but not letting go completely.

"S'ok. But you want to tell me what caused that?" He asked, leaning his head back so he could look into her eyes.

"Do I need a reason?" Nahla asked, trying to side step the issue.

Jace just gave her a look that said, "Try again". "You forget, I know you. You're a cuddler, but you're not one to latch on like that without reason. Now what gives?" He saw her debating where or not to tell him, and truthfully that hurt. They'd just begun to really open up to one another, but she was hiding something, he was sure of it.

"I can't tell you. Not yet anyway." Nahla said, not really lying to him, but not telling him all the facts either. "Trust me. Please?" She continued, lifting a hand to caress first his eyebrow then down to trace his jawbone and full lower lip.

Jace sighed. It almost felt like she was testing him, but it wasn't in her nature to do that. He took her hand from where it cradled his jaw and placed a soft kiss in its' centre. "You'll tell me when you're ready?"

Nahla leaned down and kissed him softly. "I promise."

Thankfully Jace was planning to stick around Medlab that evening to keep a close watch on Aries' progress, so she didn't have to make an excuse about not being able to meet up with him later. Of course she would have to explain her two-day absence later, but she would deal with it then.

On her way back to Munitions, Nahla stopped by Comm to see if Birkoff had her panel ready. "Hey Birkoff, is my panel ready?

"Yep, just finishing it now," he replied, removing the panel from the computer's tower and handing it to her. "Good luck."

Nahla gave Birkoff an inquiring look. "Is there something I haven't been told about this mission?"

"No, I was just simply wishing you luck, being your first mission and all."