Code Blue blinked, completely taken aback, and then reached up and gingerly touched his nose. He was bleeding.

Gemma’s mouth dropped open. She looked over at Gillian, whose eyes were wide. Gemma had no idea it was possible for Code Blue to bleed.

They were so wrapped up in their surprise that neither of them thought to run when other agents surrounded them.

* * *

"…absolutely ridiculous… and he told me he found you there… of all the places you could go, Gemma; there?"

Gemma was currently in her father's office, sitting down in a chair. Two agents were waiting at the entrance of the room, standing stoically and staring in front of them. One of the agents happened to be Code Blue, who had since wiped any trace of blood from his nose. She was quite tempted to see if she could make them smile, like the royal guards in England. But the looks on her parents’ faces nipped that idea in the bud.

She was in so much trouble. Her mother was staring at her pointedly from her usual corner of 'Lecture Hall,' as Gemma had dubbed the place, while her father was doing his usual pacing up and down the room, his face tomato-red. Instead, she focused her eyes on the dark oak bookcase that rested against the wall behind her father’s desk, filled with titles such as Huckleberry Finn and 101 Ways to Kill Someone Using Just Your Hands.

"…no reason why… you could've told us you wanted to go to LA… summer is much more dangerous than winter…."

Gemma wasn't really listening, to be honest. In fact, she was beginning to plan her weekend. She was thinking her copy of Public Enemies needed to be reacquainted with her Blu-ray player. Johnny Depp and Christian Bale? Talk about a fantasy come true…. One was the roguish bank robber while the other was a sexy FBI agent. Hmm. She couldn't choose a side.

"…we have no other choice… will be your bodyguard… don't want others to know… since you've had stalkers before… will be your husband."

"What?" Gemma asked sharply, her eyes going wide. Maybe she should have been paying attention.

Her father sighed his usual frustrated sigh through his nose. "I said, Gemma, that you've had trouble with stalkers before, and you know this.” He placed his hands on his desk, leaning over as a way to catch Gemma’s attention and emphasize the seriousness of the situation. “As head of my department, I have lots of enemies, and I can't have my only child running away into the hands of those enemies. They could use you against me, you know? As such, I've decided to assign you a bodyguard of sorts."

Gemma didn't have the strength to argue quite yet. She could've sworn he had said… but no. That would be utterly ridiculous.

"…but, of course, we wouldn't want anyone to know," Brent continued, "that you have a bodyguard. We still want you to be normal, of course; as normal as a girl in your position can get. As normal as you can get, really. So we're just going to disguise him as your husband. Your mother and I have discussed it already, and we think it's the best idea.” He glanced at his wife and Gemma’s mother offered him a supportive smile. Gemma had to hold back from rolling their eyes. “We're going to have a ceremony and everything. Would you like to meet him? Dixon!" he called, staring at the door. "Come in, would you?"

Tons of questions and arguments flooded Gemma's mind, but they stayed perched on the tip of her tongue. Her eyes were focused on this Dixon fellow, and she couldn't quite believe it.

Code Blue.

Dixon was Code Blue.

Code Blue was Dixon.

He was supposed to be her husband? The man she just socked in the nose?

Triple shit.