The Unexpected Friend

Chapter 1 - The Mission

Sonja Percy was drained and frightened. She had been working in the hills of Afghanistan and had been lost for two days. The broken axel on their vehicle was the last straw of a botched mission. All she wanted now was to get home alive.

Their paid guide had led them to a village about 500 miles from the Tajikistan border. He was able to find some food for them to eat but unfortunately had no idea how they could proceed. He had learned that a Taliban cell had passed through several days before. Just before sunset he returned from another scouting trip. Sonja got scared when he failed to give them the agreed upon all clear signal. Instead, she heard him in a conversation with a woman. Suddenly she heard the Ray Charles Version of Georgia on my mind sung in perfect English. It was only halfway through the song that he quoted the agreed upon phrase.

Sonja followed her team leader out of their hiding place to see the guide standing with a blond woman. "Marcus, this is Jacqueline Sloan. She thinks that she can get your team out of the country."

Sonja listen intently as the woman spoke. She knew her brain was a little foggy, but she could not shake the feeling that she knew this woman. She left the building and then quickly returned. She took Sonja and the other female on the team to the back of the building. She began to pull items of the bag that she carried and handed them to them. "Here" she said smiling "this is brought to you courtesy of my friend Emily Wickham."

"Emily" Sonja replied in surprised. I worked with an Emily Wickham on a couple of cases.

"What? Where?" the woman quickly asked with great anticipation.

"Wait. Emily had a mission in New Orleans." Finally, they were able to determine that it was the same person.

"My name is Jacqueline, but I was known at NCIS as Jack Sloan."

"You were NCIS? How in the world did you get here" Percy asked?

"It is a long, long story. When you get back, call Gibbs and ask him." Sloan suggest that they eat and get some shut eye. She advised them that their transportation would arrive at about 1900 just before nightfall.

It was the first time that Percy felt safe enough to actually relax and catch her breath. She had no idea how long she had been asleep. She heard her team leader's voice and was able to find her way around the equipment to find him. About thirty minutes later Jack Sloan appeared once again. She quickly reviewed the escape plan. Sonja of course was grateful and hugged her as she prepared to leave the facility. Sonja reached into her pocket and placed all the afghani that she had on her. Here Jack, I guess that you can use this. You be safe girl and keep your head down."

The truck arrived as scheduled. It had a hidden compartment which they all squeezed in to. It seemed like forever and really got tense as they got to the border. The team could see flash light scattered across the truck. Finally they were moving again.

The truck stopped about ten miles into Tajikistan. It was pitch black when the compartment door opened. Percy recognized the King's English immediately. "We are MI6" the voice said. "We are waiting for a 'bird' to drop in. It will take you to your next stop."

The aircraft finally landed. Sonja was never so happy to see American troops when she exited the helicopter. They had landed in an American controlled landing strip in Kyrgyzstan. Four hours later, they all boarded a C-130 Hercules. Boney butt and all Sonja was just happy to be transported alive and on her way home. Twenty-four hours later they arrived at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling in D.C. after a refueling stop in the Azores.

Percy called her husband as soon as she landed. "Yes, baby, I can come get you. I will leave in a few minutes."

Lasalle was surprised to see his wife approach him with only her backpack. "Do not ask. We lost everything on this mission. I swore I would never tell you this, but we barely made it out alive." He knew better to ask any questions after she walked out of his embrace. They quickly proceeded hand in hand to his truck.

Christopher had a routine for his wife. He always put a large towel and PJs on the towel warmer he bought her the first Christmas that they were in the new house. He had laughed at her response to the item. She had told him that he could have given her the biggest diamond in the world for it but that she would never part from it. "Bath or shower" he asked quietly as they pulled into the garage?

Sonja proceeded into the house as Lasalle opened the side door of the garage. He quickly dumped out her backpack and carefully picked through the items one by one placing them into a plastic bag. He left the fabric backpack in the cold as a death knell to any hangers on that he could not see in the dimmed light from the garage spotlight.

Sonja luxuriated in the bathtub. She thought back to the first time that she saw the huge tub. Christopher had surprised her with a slight remodel while she was way on a mission. He had secretly had the construction crew come in and measure everything then ordered all the parts. Every Monday the plumber would call Chris to see if the project could start. Lasalle told her it took six weeks before he could finally say yes.

Twenty-one days later Sonja returned from another mission. She looked up to see that her husband had disappeared. She was too tired to be distracted. She only wanted to get through the suitcase so she could go wash her hair.

As she walked into the house, she could hear the sound system but still not her husband. "Chris" she called out.

"In here honey" he responded. "Shut your eyes" he said as he met her at their bedroom door.

"Oh, come on Country Mouse. I am exhausted. I do not have time for this."

"Trust me City Mouse, you will be happy with this" he replied.

Sonja took a deep sigh as she closed her eyes. She was wondering what the smell was.

"You can open them now" Lasalle said with excitement in his voice.

Percy looked around in amazement at her now candle lit bathroom.

"Christopher" she exclaimed!

"Look Sonja. I have wanted you to have this ever since we watched that movie 'Pretty Woman'." She was speechless as she observed the clawfoot bathtub. "It will fit two" Lasalle exclaimed, "but it is your night to break it in. I will go get you some wine. Take as long as you wish relaxing."

Sonja marveled the next morning over one more extremely kind thing that that her husband had done for her. He had taken the time to learn her heart in many ways. He knew her favorite foods, type of vegan food she loved, her favorite color, the unique clothes that she liked and her wine. She was surprised at how quickly he learned to "read" her when it came to her missions. He knew he could not ask her the details, but he learned to read her moods especially when she wanted/needed to be left alone.

The agency training/indoctrination specialist spent quite a bit of time working with the new team members on how to interact with family members particularly their adult partners. Sonja had been required to inform the Agency when it became clear that she and Christopher would become 'an item'. Once it was decided that he would relocate to D. C. and move in with her, his background was also scrutinized. Fortunately for them, Lasalle already had a high security clearance. They both had to attending counseling sessions on how Sonja would be deployed and exactly what information that she could and could not share with him as well as the devices that she used and might be on site in their residence.

They had quickly settled into a routine. She was there and then she was not. Percy had no idea how much Lasalle worried about her and he never let on. She could only notice how much she missed him and how he always treated her like a queen when she returned their home.