Sarah is the kind of person who learns from her mistakes. She's not one to repeat errors or take a step in the wrong direction twice. She prefers to distance herself from it. She learns, becomes a better agent, and then she moves on. But some mistakes can be harder to move on from than others. She learned that the hard way.
It was two years ago in Europe. She and Bryce had spent weeks working on this billionaire who had been dabbling in black market weapons deals. They'd first ran into him at an all-inclusive resort, and she'd went in to play her part. Only to find out that their mark was more interested in her "brother" Bryce than he was in her.
So she took a back seat, went along for the ride, and played the part of the cautious and slightly over-protective sister. It worked like a charm. It worked so well, in fact, that when their stays at the hotel came to an end, he invited them to spend a few days at his Italian estate. Where they'd be the guests of honor at the party he was throwing the following weekend.
She got a little bored, a little tired of being on the outskirts and not in the middle of the action. She'd gotten tired of polite smiles and laughing at jokes that weren't funny and leaned on the side of demeaning. So maybe she let herself get a little bit distracted by the gorgeous guy across the room, over by the bar, who had been making eyes at her for the better part of the night.
Maybe after Bryce slipped back into the fray, with a USB drive he'd swiped after disappearing into the mark's office, she let herself get a little bold. Maybe she was riding the high of a successful mission and decided to have a little fun of her own. After all, she was never going to see the guy again, so why not let one thing lead to another?
Except for the fact that she has seen him again. She keeps seeing him, crossing his path more than is typical in their line of work. And that one thing is something she paid for dearly, since he swiped the USB from her bedside table while she was sleeping and they had to return to headquarters empty handed after weeks of hard work.
And now, two years later, as she's walking into her boss' office, he's the one falling into stride next to her. Even though he has no business being in a CIA office. "What are you doing here, Buckley?"