(Special thanx to Sherry wrote this next part)

A few days later, Nahla walked back to her quarters for lunch to find a beautiful bouquet of flowers sitting on her kitchen table. She smiled as she thought of Jace's thoughtfulness. He really was a wonderful man. She walked over and breathed deeply the scent of the blossoms.

"This day is certainly looking up," she quipped as she looked for a card. She found it and quickly opened it. It simply said. "Bella, I enjoyed our day together tremendously. Thank you. G."

Momentarily confused, Nahla stared at the card and then it hit her. "Gino!" she whispered. The smile was back. She had enjoyed their time together as well. She still couldn't believe everything she had learned, but meeting Gino had definitely been a plus. Then another thought quickly struck.

"Oh no. What am I gonna do with these? I can't leave them here, Jace will want to know who they're from. Oh gee ... why does even a simple bouquet of flowers have to be so complicated?" she moaned and grabbed the phone.

"Hello," came the answer from the other end.

"Sher. I need some advice. You're the only one I can ask."

"Okay, shoot," Sherry replied, wondering what could be wrong.

"I just found a beautiful bouquet of flowers in my kitchen," Nahla began.

Sherry laughed. "Okay. And you need my help because..."

"Well, if you'd let me finish, I could tell you," Nahla huffed.

"Okay, sorry. What's the problem? Jace send you the wrong kind?" Sherry prompted, still smiling at the thought of flowers being a problem.

"No. They aren't from Jace," Nahla finally explained.

"Ah, I see" came the answer, Sherry finally realizing the problem. "And who is this flower sending maniac? I'll have him taken care of," Sherry replied, still having fun with this. It wasn't often around Section that you had this type of problem to deal with. It was usually life and death. This was a hoot.

"This isn't funny," Nahla growled, getting frustrated at her sister's refusal to take her serious.

"Okay, okay. Tell me who they're from. Then we'll take it from there," Sherry replied, realizing this could be more than Nahla could deal with at the moment.

"They're from... Gino," she finally explained.

Sherry smiled. She knew that Gino had taken a shine to Nahla. She could tell the day they went to meet the old man. And from what she could tell, Nahla wasn't exactly immune to his charms either. "I see. You want me to tell him to back off?"

Nahla sighed. "No. It's just ... what do I do with them? I can't have them here. Jace will see them. He'll want to know who they are from."

Sherry nodded to herself. "You have a point. Well, you have two choices ... get rid of the flowers or lie."

Nahla moaned. "I don't want to lie to Jace."

"Then you have your answer. If you really don't want to throw them out, I'll take them off your hands," Sherry offered.

"Would you?" Nahla asked, relief flooding through her voice. "Thanks. But, what are you gonna tell Michael?"

Sherry laughed. "I'll tell him the truth. They're from my sister."

Nahla finally laughed. "How do you do that?"

"Do what?" Sherry asked.

"End up with a beautiful bouquet of flowers from another man and not lie to Michael about them, but not tell him the truth either."

Sherry laughed. "Practice. So, do you want me to talk to Gino, tell him to lay off with the flower deliveries?"

Nahla thought about it for a moment. "No, I think I'll do it myself."

Sherry smiled. She knew Nahla wanted an excuse to see him again, and this was as good as any. "Okay, but if you change your mind, I'll have a talk with him."

"Thanks. I'll bring the flowers down to your office right now."

(end of Sherry's part)

*****

It took a couple of more days for Nahla to gather the courage to call Gino. It was silly really, he was just a relative right? So why was she so danged nervous about talking with him? Ok, so he was a damn fine specimen of Italian manhood, at least in her opinion. But it wasn't like she was looking to replace Jace; that was the furthest thing from her mind.

Deciding that she had put it off long enough, Nahla picked up the phone and dialed.

"Hello?"

"May I speak with Gino?"

"Speaking."

"Hey, it's Nahla."

"Bella! You got the flowers?"

Nahla smiled. "Yes, I did. They were beautiful."

"Were?"

"That's one of the reasons I'm calling. I wanted to tell you thanks, but I'm afraid I couldn't keep them. I didn't know how to explain them to Jace, and I wasn't going to lie to him. So I gave them to Sherry."

"You couldn't say they were from a male admirer?" Gino inquired.

Nahla recalled her discussion with Jace from last week. "No, I don't think that would've gone over too well. And I couldn't quite tell him they were from my cousin."

"No, I don't suppose you could. I'm sorry, bella, I didn't realize they would cause you such difficulty."

"It's ok, no harm done."

They continued to chat for another hour or so before saying good night.

The next several weeks went by in a flurry of activity. The warmer temperatures as spring turned into summer seemed to crank up criminal activity to the max. Walter and Nahla were each working double and sometime triple shifts to keep the teams equipped with what weaponry they needed, but it was slowly taking its' toll.

One morning, after having been up all night prepping for upcoming missions, Nahla was called into Madeline's office.

"Please, have a seat."

"Thank you." Nahla said, grateful for a chance to sit down.

"You've been working very hard lately, how are you holding up?"

"You tell me."

Madeline gave her typical cryptic smile. "Operations and I have appreciated your hard work. Effective immediately, you are on downtime."

"What's the catch?"

"Munitions has to run efficiently, and overworked operatives can lead to a decline in numbers. Terrorist activity is dropping off and so you have two weeks to regroup." Madeline explained. "Enjoy the time off, that will be all."

Nahla heard the dismissal and decided not to question it. Somewhat in a daze, she found herself at Sherry's office door without realizing that her feet had taken her there. Raising her hand to knock, she was saved the effort when the door opened.

"Nahla."

"Hi Michael, is Sherry in?"

"Of course," he replied, stepping aside to let her pass.

Nahla turned to tell him good-bye, but the door had already closed.

"What brings you to by, sis?" Sherry asked.

"Hmm? Oh, I just had a meeting with Madeline. I'm on downtime for the next two weeks. Don't you find that a little odd?"

"Oh, I don't know." Sherry replied with a grin. "I'd say you deserve the rest."

Nahla looked at her sister with an unreadable expression. "Did you have something to do with this? I found it really strange that Madeline told me she and Operations had noticed my hard work lately and decided I needed a break."

Sherry laughed. "Is that what she told you?"

"Ok, out with it. You know something." Nahla said, planting her hands on her hips in a defensive stance.

"Relax. Walter came to me a few days ago and said you looked like you were about to break. So I called Uncle and persuaded him to suggest to Madeline and Operations that you needed some downtime."

Nahla sighed. "And did you make plans for me as well?"

"As a matter of fact."

"Gee Sher, I don't know whether to thank you or smack you. So what's this plan of yours?"

"You remember that plantation in Italy I told you about, that I spent some time at as a child? How'd you like to spend a couple of weeks there?"

"You're serious??" Nahla asked, her face lighting up like a Christmas tree.

"You bet. Uncle leaves for Italy about this time every summer, he'd love to take you with him and show you his homeland."

Nahla seemed to deflate a little. "I'd be going with Uncle?"

"Don't tell me you're still afraid of him?"

"No, not really afraid. I just don't know him that well."

"Well here's the perfect opportunity to fix that. I have to say I'm jealous that I can't go with you. I've haven't been to the plantation in years."

Nahla sighed. "So when do I leave?"

"Tomorrow morning." Sherry replied. She watched her younger sister for several moments, seeing that something else seemed to be bothering her. "What's wrong?"

"Well. how am I going to explain a two-week absence to Jace?"

"Ah," Sher said with a smile. "Don't worry, technically you'll be on loan to Section Six, seeing as they've recently lost one of their Munitions operatives."

"Well then, I suppose I should go pack huh? Not to mention spend some time with Jace."

Sherry stood up and walked around the desk to hug Nahla. "I know you'll miss him, but I think you'll really enjoy the time in Italy. You know you can call me, at any time."

Nahla hugged her sister back. "Thank you. I do appreciate the downtime, and I have always wanted to visit Italy. You'll keep an eye on Jace for me?"

"Of course I will."

"Good, I'll talk with you later." Nahla said as she left. A moment later her head popped back in. "Oh, be sure and keep an eye on a little redhead named Janet. I don't trust her."

"You got it!" Sher replied with a cackle.

Early the next morning after bidding a tearful good-bye to Jace, Nahla arrived at the airport in time to board the plane and take her seat. She had just settled in when a flight attendant approached her.

"Miss?"

"Yes?"

"Can you come with me, please?"

"Why, is there something wrong?"

The woman smiled kindly. "No, your flight arrangements were upgraded, your should be in first-class."

"Oh." Nahla replied as she gathered her bag and followed the attendant back to the front of the plane.

"Enjoy your flight," the woman said after Nahla had gotten situated.

Finding herself in a window seat, Nahla turned to look out the window. A few minutes later she felt someone sit down in the empty seat beside her. Figuring it must be Uncle, she was pleasantly surprised when she turned around.

"Gino! What are you doing here?"

"Hello bella," he said, leaning over to buss her cheek with a kiss. "Uncle had an emergency and had to reschedule for a later flight, so he asked me to take his place. I hope you don't mind."

"Of course not!"

Gino smiled at her enthusiasm. "Good."

The flight passed very quickly as the twosome spent several hours finding out that they had a lot in common. Upon landing in Italy, they traveled by car for another few hours before finally arriving at the plantation. It was early morning and the sun was just beginning to rise.

"Perfect," Gino said as he stepped out of the vehicle.

"What?" Nahla asked.

"You have to see this," he replied as he held out his hand.

Taking his hand, she followed Gino as he led her to a large terrace on the eastern side of the house. Pulling her to stand in front of him, he settled his hands on her shoulders. "Just watch."

Nahla wasn't sure what he was trying to show her, but stood still and did as he asked. The eastern sky began to lighten in shades of pink, the darker edges changing from black to purple to blue. The sun soon began to peak over a distant mountain range, casting it's light on the valley below. The shadows of night pulled back like a curtain, exposing the terraced landscaped. "It's beautiful," Nahla whispered.

"I love watching the sunrises here. Sometimes I think Uncle built this terrace just so he could watch them." Gino whispered back.

The two stood in silence as the sun slowly rose to its' morning zenith, the silence finally broken by Nahla's wide yawn. "Excuse me."

"No need. Let me show you to your room and you can get some sleep. It'll take a day or so for your body to adjust to the time change."

"Sleep sounds wonderful, thank you."

Arriving at her room, Nahla didn't even take the opportunity to check it out. She headed straight for the raised bed, climbing the small steps to stretch out.

Gino crossed over to the windows, pulling the drapes shut to keep out the morning light. When he turned to say something to Nahla, he chuckled when he saw she was already fast asleep. Drawing the coverlet over her, he kissed her forehead lightly. "Sweet dreams, bella."