It is incredible the things one will do for love.

You might punch a stranger in the jaw for making a remark. You might jump off a cliff to follow your lover so that your fates may at least be the same, forever intertwined.

However, the most precarious of all is one is faced with the choice of love or hate. Can you love one person enough to stop hating another?

Just such a choice was presented to young Daniel Corvac when his lover faced him with an ultimatum.

Incidentally, to understand this ultimatum, we must back up to the previous year.

May 30-one year before the ultimatum

London, England

A musty anonymous motel room

"This was the last straw Corvac." The Chief said.

"I thought that camel's back broke a while ago. You just keep putting supports under it." Daniel said.

Daniel had recently gotten back from an assignment in Guatemala, infiltrating a drug cartel believed to be trafficking bombs along with their other sensitive cargo. Daniel had infiltrated it successfully, rubbing elbows with its higher-ups.

However when MI6, the English equivalent of the CIA, told him it was time to purge the group he had gone ballistic on them. He had covertly planted 236 C-Four charges in thirty-six locations including three international embassies and killed thirteen ambassadors, all in an elaborate scheme to shut the cartel down for good. Overall, he caused over two million dollars' worth of damage.

"Corvac, the agency can't afford to keep you in the field. " the chief said, annoyed at Corvac's casual tone after his slaughter in Guatemala.

"Then where, might you suggest, they put me?"

"Glad you asked. MI6 has instructed me to reassign you to a protection mission."

Daniel was stuck in awe for a minute. Protection missions were the underbelly of field operations. Protectors were typically either loose cannons being punished or agents who just could not be put anywhere else.

"You can't do that to me. I scored in the top half percentile of all the evaluations ever conducted by MI6 on field agents." Daniel retorted.

"You're right, I can't. But the Director can and she specifically ordered me to assign you this mission."

"Fine, I'll go to your little retraining mission. Who might I have the pleasure of protecting anyway?"

"Her name's Anne Johansen. She is the English ambassador in Washington, D.C.'s daughter and lives here in London. Has her whole life."

Great, Corvac thought, I get to protect one of those prissy little teenagers that still does not understand which side of a gun the bullet comes out.

She is going to have a hay-day with me, Corvac thought as he left the 'undercover meeting room'.

They say first impressions are important. Corvac had an idea of what her impression of him was like. Dirty, poor, and dangerous looking.

However, her real impression of him was that he was a confident yet calm man that looked quite competent. She also could not help but notice that he was a little cute…

His impression of her was that she was a pretty, young lady who seemed to be surprisingly close to his own age. She also looked like she might actually be one of those girls who embrace guns rather than screech at the very sight of one.

"Hi. I am Daniel Corvac. Just call me Corvac." He said with an outstretched hand.

"Hi. I assume you already know my name but I will tell you anyways. I am Anne Johansen. You can call me… Anne I guess, or Jo if you prefer." She said taking his hand. She had to suppress thoughts of how warm his hand was when she touched it.

"Well, Anne, I need to get an idea of why I am here. Do you know of anyone who would want to hurt you?" He asked.

"I thought you were supposed to know considering you are the 'undercover agent,'" She said making the apostrophes with her hands.

"I am and I need to know if there was anyone you thought was going to hurt you." He said, trying to seem in control of the situation.

"No. Everyone I know loves me." Suddenly all Corvac's thoughts about her being different vanished. She just might as prissy as he originally thought, before he met her…

"Well, only out of the thought of keeping you safe, we are going to leave the city." he said. She was appalled at the very thought. How could she leave the city? She had grown up here and lived here ever since she was born. She literally had not set foot outside of London. Ever.

So you can imagine her distress when this practical stranger came into her life and told her she was leaving.

"We can't leave!"

"Why not?"

"Because… just because! I don't need a reason, I just need to stay here!" Anne whined.

Corvac smirked. "That's a good defense," He said sarcastically, "C'mon. We're going to your apartment to get some of your things and then we're going." He had already mulled this over quite thoroughly. If they stayed there, they were likely to fall into patterns. Develop habits that could be used against them by a possible assassin.

After finding that Anne's 'essentials' did not fit in the back of the cab, Corvac had decided that she was to bring one bag of essential clothing and a little money. That is all they needed to disappear.

When faced with this, Anne had decided to sit on the sidewalk and refuse to move until she could take all of her things. Corvac had only smirked and started going through her suitcases.

"What do you think you are doing?" Anne asked, hostility quickly creeping into her voice.

"Packing for you because you are currently incapable."

"Oh no you're not."

"Fine. Then, come over here and pack just one bag. Not even one extra carry-on."

"Fine"

"Fine"

Anne went to work sorting through her clothes while Corvac went the chair at the table to read.

Two hours later, Anne woke Corvac from his nap. "Daniel! Wake up. I'm done."

"What? Wait, I'm awake!" He said. He looked up and saw her bulging suitcase. It was not exactly what he meant but it was a start. "Okay. Time to go."

With that, they left the apartment.

Corvac awoke on his plane ride to the sound of his telecomm ringing. He answered it and heard the Chief.

"Corvac, What did you do?" He said, fuming.

"I swear it wasn't me. It was the other guy. Wait. What are we talking about?"

"This" the Chief said and suddenly Corvac's laptop screen sprang to life and started streaming a news report.

"Local officials are still not releasing any statements as to the cause of the explosion." The reporter said. then it started a video of Anne's apartment building with a gaping hole in the side and flames all around the mouth.

"I repeat, what did you do?" The Chief said.

Corvac could only sit there in awe. He looked at the time the report said the explosion had occurred. 4:17 P.M. exactly three minutes after he and Anne had left.

He shut the laptop, crushed the telecomm with his fist, and went to sleep wondering who had tried to kill them.

Hello! So what do you think? Love it? Hate it? Want to kill it? Want to… never mind. Just tell me what you think with that pretty blue button.

-David Santura