COZUMEL, MEXICO

In a dark corner of a restaurant near their hotel, Juli, Pablo, and Esperanza sat, drinks in hand. In the center of the table, placed on a suede material, three pieces of intricate mosaic jade jewelry - one of their finds for the day.

"I hope your employer will be pleased with your findings," Esperanza said, her dark eyes shining. "They're so beautiful..."

Pablo studied the pieces before taking his drink. He and Juli decided to take a few artifacts from the tomb to not bring suspicion. The woman might pick up very quickly if something wasn't right. Bison only needed one piece...the bracelet that the ruler had worn when he was buried. Pablo picked up the thick band of jade jewelry, examining it in the dim light.

"I'm sure he'll be pleased," Pablo assured her before setting it down. "And as promised...the remaining payment for services..." He pulled a checkbook out of his shirt pocket and began to write a check.

"I should get going," Juli declared.

"Leaving already?" Pablo asked, pausing in his writing.

"Yes. We have a long day back tomorrow and I need to pack up my things," Juli explained. She gathered the items on the table, tying them securely in the suede makeshift pouch. "And I'm sure the boss will want to hear from us. He said to call anytime." She stood up, tossing a few bills onto the table. "Esperanza, thanks for all your help...because of you we were able to get our job done much faster."

"You're welcome," the other woman said warmly. "You two must send me the brochure of information when it goes on display in your museum."

Juli nodded. "I'll make sure to do that. Anyway...I'll see you two in the morning."

"What time is your flight tomorrow?" Esperanza asked.

"Eleven a.m.," Juli answered.

"Then I will pick you two up tomorrow at nine-thirty," Esperanza offered.

As Juli left, Pablo finished his writing and handed her the check.

"Thank you," Esperanza said, accepting it with one hand before folding it and tucking it into her purse.

"I should thank you," he responded. "You were the one who found where he was buried."

"It wasn't that difficult of a puzzle," Esperanza said modestly. "You certainly know your way around temples." She glanced at her watch before turning to him. The look in his eyes from the moment he had met her was unnerving. Almost...predatory.

"You're an attractive woman," he said out of nowhere. "And you seem to find exploring ancient civilizations more interesting compared to other people." He wasn't lying. While most of the women he had briefly gotten involved with never hesitated to flaunt themselves, this one didn't seem to care about her appearance. She dressed decently enough...she just didn't leave a lot for anyone to consider.

She cleared her throat. "Studying has always been my life."

"No personal life?"

She cleared her throat again, her cheeks turning pink. "There was someone...once. Several years ago, when I was still in college. We had the same passion for ancient history...but after graduation, he had gone to study in Peru while I stayed here."

"And how was the experience?" he asked.

It was obvious that talking about her personal life was making her a little uncomfortable. Especially since her face was still flushed. Yet she continued to answer his question.

"It was decent," she said honestly. "We were still young, not sure where we wanted our lives to go. There really hasn't been anyone since then. It's difficult to meet someone, given my career." She met his gaze. "And you?"

"I travel a lot thanks to work, so we share the same situation."

Esperanza lifted her left wrist to look at her watch again.

"Are you anxious to leave?" Pablo asked, gently grasping her elbow, his fingers brushing her arm. He didn't miss the little quivering her left fingers made as she lowered her hand to her lap.

"No," she whispered. "I'm just trying to be a good hostess..." Her eyes widened as he began to close the distance between them in the booth until he was just inches away from her. "I-I-I know you have to wake up early to catch your flight tomorrow, and I don't want to keep you up late."

"I plan on staying up late tonight..."

"You...You do?" Esperanza stammered before catching herself. What was wrong with her?? She bit her lip, blinking. "I'm sorry to hear that...but...of course your employer wishes you to catch up on work before you fly out...After all, I'm sure your colleague left too to work and..." She couldn't even finish her sentence.

Could a woman be that naïve? Pablo wondered briefly. Perhaps...due to her lack of experience...it wasn't that impossible...She was beautiful, but obviously she had different priorities than most women her age. In this case, it was better to be direct.

"Esperanza...my plans tonight don't involve work," he stated, placing his hand at the small of her back. He could feel her entire body tremble for a few moments.

"Oh." A shy smile came to her lips. Her experience may be limited, but she had no doubt what this man had in mind for her. Could she do it? Lose herself in what he had to offer for one night and walk away? How often did someone give her such an opportunity, anyway? Before she could change her mind, she said softly, "Same here..."

=====

-USA Military Airbase-

Guile sits quietly at his desk with a warm cup of coffee. As he sips on his morning cup of java, he reviews the information gathered at the tournament so far. He is also reviewing information that he had before. His reviewing of the information hasn't resulted in anything new, but his feeling was telling him that it was something he was overlooking, one key factor. He decided that his brain needed a rest, so he stacked up the documents neatly and placed them in his desk drawer. As he was readying himself to leave and get some rest, Charlie entered the office.

With a smirk on his face he said, "So you finally decided to take a break?"

Guile nodded in response. Charlie noticed that Guile was a little fatigued, but he still intended on challenging Guile to a sparring match. The smirk on Charlie's face didn't go unnoticed by Guile and he could on wonder what it was about.

"What are you so damn happy about?"

"Just thought I might see if you're really ready for this tournament, or if you've gotten as rusty as some believe," responded Charlie

Slowly a smirk appeared on Guile's face as well. The atmosphere had changed instantly and Guile's energy shot back up to one hundred percent. "So where do you want to do this?" Guile asked.

"It's going to have to be somewhere that's near the base if we're needed, but it also has to be a place where we won't feel constricted."

Guile's smirk turned in to full blown smile, "I know just the place."

A few minutes later....

Guile and Charlie stood on a field that was commonly used to test live ammunition, but today there was no scheduled testing and Guile knew it. After warming up, both men walked to the middle of the field. It wasn't until this exact moment that the smirk that was on both men's faces faded into memory. They became really focused, the look that they gave to each other showing the serious intensity of true warriors.

Charlie got into his stance and Guile got into his. They slowly circled around one another. Suddenly, they stopped....

Without as much as whisper, Charlie went into action. He threw a straight jab at Guile, which he easily blocked. While he was blocking, Charlie gave Guile a powerful uppercut to the stomach. Guile jumped back slightly due to the power of the uppercut. Charlie seen that Guile was off balance due to his attack and began another one. Charlie threw an overhand punch aimed at Guiles face, but Guile quickly regained balance. He then went under the punch, grabbed his arm, and performed Uki Goshi; which hurled Charlie onto the ground. This didn't slow Charlie down in the least; he soon recoiled from the throw and began running towards Guile. Not known for backing down, Guile ran head on.

As both men where running toward one another, Charlie suddenly came to a stop and before he could do anything to stop it, Guile's chin was at the receiving end of a somersault shell, which sent him crashing head first into the ground. He slid several feet before he actually recovered. Guile stood up, rubbed his chin, and spat the red fluid from his mouth that tasted like iron. He then got back into stance and slowly edged his way back towards Charlie, who was still as focused as before. As soon as Guile reached Charlie, he began his assault. Throwing several jabs to the face, which were blocked and one powerful roundhouse punch that connected to Charlie's right jaw. This knocked Charlie off balance and he didn't have time to prepare himself to guard against a snap kick to the back of the knee, which was followed by a flash kick to the chin that sent him flying back several feet.

It took Charlie a few seconds to stand on his feet. He had felt the last attack and slowly shook it off, he soon found himself spitting red fluid from his mouth as well. Both Guile and Charlie stood quietly, staring at one another. After a few more seconds of staring both men faces went into a smile and the fire in their eyes has died down. They walked up to one another, both chuckling quietly as the tension broke. They sat down, viewing the planes as they flew by. "Ok... maybe we're both getting a little rusty..." Charlie mused. Gone, it seemed, were the day where the two would spar for hours on end, and quite often while mostly or even entirely drunk. Still, there were few who could best them, even now.

Guile smirked and snorted his reply, "Nothing beating up a few of these new kids can't fix."

=====

In her hotel room, Juli turned the videoconference software on from her laptop, connecting to one of Shadowlaw's agents currently on Oahu. She was greeted by a man seated at a desk, who looked like he had just shrugged out of his suit and tie. He adjusted his thin gold-rimmed glasses before looking at her.

"Status?" he prompted.

"We found it."

"Already?"

"The guide and Pablo didn't take long to find what we were looking for."

"Where's Pablo now?"

"Screwing around. As usual," Juli added, rolling her eyes.

"Now, now, Juli...he's not the only one who's had to bed someone because it was beneficial to a mission..." he chided.

"Shut up." As if she needed him to remind her about past incidents. And there had been a few. Some they had worked together on.

"I'll tell Lord Bison to expect you back on Hawaii tomorrow. He'll be pleased to hear that you're ahead of schedule. And I'll try to pull some strings to arrange it so that Pablo doesn't have to wait as long for his first fight...Lord Bison may need to send him out again in a week or two."

"All right."

"I'll see you back on Hawaii."

The screen went black.