Three weeks passed in relative quiet. Thorne and Jeannie remained vigilant in hiding the fact they were a couple from the outside world. They only came together under cover of darkness when the apartment complex was silent.
At night, after they made love, Jeannie and Thorne would talk about the past and the future, making contingencies for when their affair eventually blew up in their faces.
That first night, well later that day, they'd come to terms with being enemy agents. Thorne had bristled at Jeannie's assignment of recruiting Shon for the Istochnik until she told him she'd always been thinking of him.
Thorne manned up and told her about the cameras and mics in her apartment and the reason he'd set them up. Jeannie merely laughed and revealed she'd found them right away.
Thorne grew angry at Quentin and Dalton's sloppiness, vowing to tell them off, but Jeannie staved his ire when she suggested his energy could be better spent... in bed. His heated look spoke his agreement, and she had squealed when he chased her into his room.
So far, everything was falling into place. Carmen was making progress with Shon and Thorne kept up the appearance of being Jeannie's friend by helping her with her bike during the week.
One night, Jeannie asked him to go the extra mile to protect their cover. She'd asked Thorne if it would be a good idea to flirt with other women.
He'd given her such a dark look, Jeannie had to steel herself against shrinking from his arms.
"I'm not even going to go there, Jeannie."
"I thought it would be a good idea," she huffed, her expression affronted. Secretly, she was pleased. Thorne reaped the benefit as Jeannie showed him how happy he'd made her.
During the day, Thorne taught his classes while Jeannie spent time with her group or attending the SCP meetings. Jeannie often spoke to her father who assured her that all was well.
Thorne cautioned Jeannie not to appear too happy to the outside world for fear of being discovered by their agencies.
Jeannie laughed at his concern, kissing and hugging Thorne until the storm left his expression and he smiled, the sun shining in him once more.
On the weekends they would separateâThorne to The Source to train, Jeannie home to her father.
Alex Jones's eyes would light up at the sight of his daughter, but when she wasn't looking, they would grow dim with pain.
Both Alex and Jeannie knew the end was near, yet they didn't dwell on the inevitable. They spoke of Jeannie's childhood and her mother, Alex's eyes growing misty at the memories and the thought of seeing his beloved Valeria soon.