The Date Of A Lifetime

Isabella looked at Noah and for a moment she felt...conflicted. She and Noah had history. She had been happy with him and him breaking up with her had been devastating for her. There had been many nights when she had wished for this exact moment. As he touched her she slightly leaned into his touch. It was familiar and comforting. However, as she did she looked over and saw Tony. He was looking at them and he looked...jealous. In that moment she realized that whatever was happening between her and Tony might not be just a fling. Last night she had seen a side of him that she had never heard about. He had been caring, considerate, and comforting. He could have just dropped her off at her apartment and left, but he hadn't. He hadn't even considered it. She saw past the money and the outward charm...the face he put on in public and saw the true man underneath. This was happening very quickly, but she could see in Tony's eyes that he was feeling what she was feeling and that was all she needed to know in that moment.

"I'm sorry Noah," she said as she took a step back from him. "I'm actually with someone else now," she said as she glanced over at Tony.

Noah’s eyes looked hurt at first then shocked when he saw who she was looking at. “Who..Tony Stark?” He said in disbelief. “Isabella...he’s...well, you can’t be serious. Your like just the flavor of the week,” Noah said it could still be true. In her experience some men were just built that way. Put on airs like they cared and then bam, ghosted out. But could even Tony Stark fake her out so much? He had came to her office for more than just getting her into bed, didn’t he? He had had her and he was still here though and talking to her about art of all things when earlier he was fighting for his life.

“We need you to hack into her computer and plant a virus that can track where those codes are. Simply destroying the computer won’t do anything nor will killing her. Can you do it?” Nick asked. “Or let me put it another way, will you do it?” He asked and I’m not here empty handed. “The CIA wants a scapegoat for the deaths of those 8 soldiers. It’s not a big deal in a wartime situation
But we’re at peace and a lot top brass need someone to blame,” he said and gestured toward Isabella. Tony answered right away when he got what he was saying. . “Fine...whatever, just tell me where and when..I’ll have your virus ready,” he said forcefully.

“It’s important Tony,” Carol said and out her hand on his shoulder. “It’s always important, isn’t it?” Tony argued.

Isabella looked over at Tony again and then looked back at Noah. "It's always possible, but that's my decision to make. I'm sorry Noah. It was good to see you again." She then stepped back over to Tony, who had finished his conversation with Nick Fury and the blonde woman. She could see in Tony's eyes that he was curious as to who the man was she had been talking to. "That was Noah West. My ex. He and I dated for a little over a year. I thought maybe he was the one, but then he broke things off with me after I started spending more time at work." She finished her champagne and handed the empty flute to a waiter. She glanced at Nick and the blonde woman who were walking away. "Is everything alright?"

Tony watched the man step away before he answered. “You know how it is. When you’ve saved the world from one homicidal maniac…” he began as if her were going to make a joke then stopped himself. He was going to have to talk to Terrence about what Nick just said. He didn’t like the fact that her name had come up as someone they could axe like that.

“It’s not important tonight...only you are,” He said trying to get back into the wonderful mood he was in when they arrived. “So were you thinking the whole bit, husband, kids the whole shibang?” He asked.

Isabella was blissfully unaware that the CIA was considering using her as a scapegoat for the deaths of those 8 soldiers. She began to walk with Tony again through the gallery. Once again she stopped in front of the piece she really liked and looked at it before looking over at Tony to answer his question. "Actually yes. I mean not right away with the children, but eventually. It's a nice thought to me. What about you? Do you see yourself as ever being a father?"

Tony gave her an inquisitive look. And as he thought about it in his head and looked deeply into her eyes, dark beautiful eyes that made his blood catch fire...he could see a child with her. A girl, with long dark hair and her mother’s eyes. He had never thought about it before now and the thought itself was completely ludicrous. They had only just met…

Several days later Isabella has a breakthrough in her search for the mole she had been looking for. Alan Emerson. He was a high ranking agent in the CIA and he worked in her very office under all of their noses. He had two bank accounts that he had tried to hide from the IA of the CIA and it raised a red flag for her and her team to continue to search. The accounts had recent transactions from the Middle East and the more she looked the closer to the group she was looking for he was. It couldn’t have been a coincidence. She crossed her t’s and dotted her I’s and prepared her case to bring to her supervisor. Terrence wasn’t particularly kind to her but he was honest and fair. A family man and he had served several tours as a marine and part of the Navy Seals team. If she couldn’t trust him with this she couldn’t trust anyone.

Terrence was in his office vowing the daily reports and intelligence from agents he had out in the field when she knocked on his door. He gestured for her to come in, it was a glass door, and he didn’t even look up at her. “You have something Agent Costini?” He asked.

Isabella couldn't get Tony out of her mind. She was falling for him...hard. Already the press had discovered who she was and was talking about the fact that they had been spotted now on two different occasions. Once at the art gallery...and then the next night out at dinner at a nice steakhouse. She had actually spent the night last night at his place, and she couldn't get what he had done to her out of her head.

Somehow she managed to focus though. She was determined to find the mole who had leaked the information. Finally, she found a name. Alan Emerson. Isabella knew that this was extremely important and so she made sure that all the information was correct. She double checked everything before finally drafting her report. Once it was finished she walked down to Terrance's office. She waited until he told her it was alright for her to come in and then stood before his desk.

"Sir, I found the mole. It was Alan Emerson," she said as she handed Terrance the report and all the other information. "It appears that he has recently received large deposits from bank accounts in the Middle East. It would seem that he had been taking money in exchange for giving them classified information."

Terrence seemed to get more and more agitated as she went through all her evidence. Terrence got up and moved up to his door looked out then closed the shutters. He returned to his desk and slowly closed the folder.

“Do you have any idea how much shit your in right now,” he said angrily and she saw it took real effort for him to keep his calm.

“I went to bat for you...protected you and you come and fuck me like this? Do you have any idea who Alan is? And there is a lot more that you don’t know;” he said and sat back in his chair.

“They want to put the blame of those 8 soldiers on your head. You climb up the chain with his and I’m not certain if I could save either of us. We need more, something concrete,” he said grimly. “If it wasn’t for…” he began than realized what he was about to say. Tony had went to bat for her otherwise she would have been gone already. That and he didn’t want her to find out what he did. “I’m not telling you to stop what your doing but now you know your career and maybe your life is in danger if you do,” he said.

Isabella blinked in visible surprise at what Terrance said to her. She didn't know what to say at first. The CIA was going to protect Alan Emerson when clearly he was the mole and instead throw her under the bus? She began to tremble with visible anger. "I worked my ass off to get to where I am now. I sacrificed and put up with all the shit that comes with being a woman in this kind of environment. I'm sorry those 8 men died, but that is NOT on my head! It's on Alan Emerson's head, but you would rather throw me, the woman, under the bus! You have concrete evidence right in your hands but you don't have the balls to do anything about it! Well, I'm done. I officially resign," she said as she pulled off her name badge and threw it on his desk. "I have too much self respect to continue to work here and I've gotten other offers. I hope the faces of those dead soldiers haunt you at night!"

She stormed out of his office and went back to her own. She gathered up her things and headed back over to Tony's place. She found him down in his lab and he seemed surprised to see her so soon. "I resigned from my job today."

Terrence had called him as soon as she left about what happened. The problem was Isabella was smart and if he was out of countenance she would pick up on it immediately. He didn’t know how he could possibly make it right for her and indeed he had done something impulsive for her.

Tony took off his lab coat as she came in. He saw the look on her face and came up to put his arms around her. “Oh Isabella, I’m so sorry to hear that..what happened?!” He asked with a grimace. He would never have guessed that she resigned. Not in a million years.

Isabella was still upset over what had happened. "Well, I figured out who the mole was. Alan Emerson, who is a top ranking CIA agent. I had all of the evidence. It was concrete evidence. There was no denying he was the reason everything happened. However, because he is a man and a high ranking CIA agent I was going to get thrown under the bus instead. I gave everything I had to that agency but because I'm not a man I get treated like shit. I've had other offers for jobs. I was actually approached a few months ago by Agent Coulson from SHIELD. Maybe I'll call him back."