"I want to know everything," Amanda said, sliding into a seat next to Alex. "The whole story."

"It's not exactly short," he warned.

"I don't care. Explain it. All of it."

"Well I woke up the same way you probably did: disoriented and confused. Except the older me- I call him D- left an explanation and instructions for me. But I didn't follow his orders and Mersor caught me. The Interrogator had me for three weeks, and during that time, I made another mistake. I gave them your code name."

She frowned. "Why mine?"

"Hey," he held up a finger. "All will be explained, but you can't interrupt."

"Fine, I won't interrupt you," she promised.

"Good. After I gave them your code name, they sent in Ethan to act as me and get close to you. He took my name- Dylan- and I became Alex. Every time I stepped out of line, your life was put in danger, so I did everything they said and answered every question they asked. Honestly, I never imagined I'd get a chance to escape, because if I tried Ethan would kill you.

"Then you and Zephyr walked into Mersor's party, and I saw a chance to finally get away. Ethan wasn't there to hurt you, and for some reason, he hadn't told Mersor what you looked like either, or even warned Mersor about your mission. It was the perfect opportunity, and I took it."

"And stole my first kiss too," Amanda muttered. "Still annoyed about that."

Alex's face reddened with embarrassment. "You promised not to interrupt," he said.

"Sorry."

"Anyway... Ethan spotted me the second we reached HQ. He wasn't exactly happy about the new arrangement, but since he couldn't send me back or report me without casting suspicion on himself, he didn't say anything. He didn't waste any time reminding me about what would happen if I told anyone about him either, though.

"Then when you told him you had feelings for me... well let's just say he was more than a little jealous, and annoyed too. He basically told me that if I didn't reject you, he would kill you."

"Wow..."

"Yeah. I guess he thought if I hurt you then you would go running to him."

"He doesn't know me very well then," Amanda said. "I pretty much did the opposite."

"I said the exact same thing, but he didn't care. But after that things went down hill for him. He lost control of the situation when you tried to go on the mission he'd designed as a trap for Zephyr. After everything with that happened, his cover was completely blown."

"Where is he now?" she asked. Her fingers tapped out a rhythm on the table. She found the action comforting. Familiar. It kept her hand occupied, and created background noise.

"Locked up in the base somewhere. He tried to run, but I found him," Alex answered.

"You still haven't told me why it was my code name that you gave the Interrogator. And how that even happened..."

"I think I was talking in my sleep, because I just remember waking up and finding the Interrogator standing in front of me taking notes and smiling like it was Christmas or something."

"So you were dreaming about me? That's... kind of creepy," she commented.

"Hey! I can't change what my subconscious thinks about when I'm sleeping," he protested. "Besides, why wouldn't I think about the woman I love?"

She stilled.

"I shouldn't have said that. I'm sorry... You can just forget about it..." he said quickly.

"You love me?" she asked quietly.

"Yes."

Suddenly it felt like everyone at their table was staring at her, waiting for her reaction. "Why? Why me?"

Alex frowned. "Is that so unbelievable?"

"A little..."

"What, Ethan can but I can't?"

The question made her realize how absurd it was to think he was lying. He'd done so much for her, ever since she met him really. Before then, even, considering what he told her. Plus, he hadn't kidnapped her and killed her best friend. So he also had that going for him.

"No," she said, a small smile forming on her lips. "You're right."

"Of course I'm right. And I am sorry about that night. I wanted to tell the truth, but I also wanted you to stay alive, so..."

She nodded. "Thank you for that, by the way. If Bear had attacked me, I doubt I would have seen it coming. Or survived."

Hawk walked in before Alex could answer that. "We have a problem," she said.

The two of them looked at her, and Amanda immediately knew the problem wasn't bad plumbing. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"Akram is launching an attack on our base in Japan. Tomorrow."

Amanda stood. "Sorry Alex... er... Dylan, I have to go."

"I know. And you can call me Alex if you want. I've kinda gotten used to it," he answered.

"Okay, great. Um... can you tell Rogue to meet us in the war room?"

"Sure," he agreed.

She turned to leave, but then turned back to him. "And Jackal. We may need his squad." She was gone before he got the chance to reply.

***

"Do we know how big the assault will be?" Amanda asked.

"From what River told us, there's going to be several thousand soldiers there. They outnumber us three to one, and they have more firepower on their side too," Hawk answered.

"It's the headquarters in Japan, right?"

"Yeah."

"That one was the castle, if I remember correctly. Which means that things aren't completely hopeless for us. We just have to use our advantages. I assume they have a good amount of food stocked up?"

"About three months worth, according to Hojo. But they have seven hundred soldiers at best, and barely enough weapons to arm themselves."

They walked through the door into the war room, where Ajax and Cheetah were waiting. A map was projected onto the table in front of them, showing a satellite view of the castle and its surrounding area.

"The mountains would be too hard to pass through, and Akram can't get tanks across the lake. That leaves the forest, which means they're going to come from the west," Ajax was saying.

Cheetah nodded. Hawk joined them by the map and zoomed in. Amanda frowned at the picture shown. "If they're coming through the forest then why don't we just burn it?" she asked.

"That's always a possibility, I suppose," Ajax said. "But if we burn down the forest we could expose the castle. Although it's not a great idea to attack from such an exposed position, it would also make it easier for Akram to move his tanks. The other thing we have to worry about is his air support. River says he plans to take the castle for himself, but that doesn't mean he won't bomb it if it comes to that. We'll want our fighter jets ready just in case."

"We don't have time to take much in the way of reinforcements, but we can get more weapons down there and bring as many men as possible." Hawk pointed to the castle. "River said the attack was supposed to happen at midday, which means that if we leave within an hour, we should get there in time."

"So what's the plan here?" Cheetah asked, looking at Amanda.

She looked down at the map again. "Call Hojo and tell him to have his men set up as many traps as possible. Lethal ones, if at all positive. We need to take down Akram's numbers before we face him head on. Then we get snipers on the walls to pick off as many people as possible. That combined with the traps should lower the number of people we have to fight. While the snipers are cutting off the numbers from the front, we send several squads around behind Akram's army. They can hide in the trees and shoot his soldiers from behind. If Akram does something unexpected we'll just adjust the plans accordingly."

"Sounds good to me," Ajax said, nodding.

Sometime during Amanda's explanation, Jackal had entered the room with his second-in-command, and stood at the front of the table, waiting. "Assemble the best men we've got, Jackal," Hawk ordered. "Make sure there are a good number of snipers in the mix. We're going to need their skills."

~~~

A/N: Hey guys! Here's another chapter! Sorry it's a bit late. :D