Author: Billy
Summary: Tawnia quizzes Amy about the A Team.
Ratings: PG
Warnings/Notes:
Disclaimer: I don't own the A Team and I've not made a penny from this, I just do it for the jazz!
Amy strolled into the office at 9am on the dot. She was extremely tired; she'd got back late the night before from a case she'd been on with the team.
She poured herself a cup of steaming hot coffee, hoping the caffeine would help wake her from her stupor. She sat at her desk, poised, ready to type up her story at her word-processor, another A Team adventure. They were getting interest more and more from the paper and its readers.
"Allen, Get in here!" Grant Eldridge, the LA courier-Express Editor, Amy's boss, bellowed from his office.
She walked her weary body into his office, thinking not today, whatever it is, not today.
"Allen, meet Baker, Tawnia Baker," Eldridge introduced. "Miss Allen, here is one of my best reporters."
Amy chuffed by Eldridge's compliment, something she didn't hear that often, held out her hand to shake the young woman's hand.
"Hi, I'm Amy."
"Hi, Tawnia."
"Tawnia's a new reporter on the team. Its her first day, so I thought you'd help show her the ropes."
'Great, all I need,' Amy thought and smiled at Tawnia.
Amy showed Tawnia around the office, the usual things, from the stationery cupboard and Xerox machine to most important thing of all, where the coffee was. She took her around to the different departments from Advertising to Photography and then lastly down to the print room, to show her where the papers where printed. The print room was on the bottom floor, below the offices and to the back of the building. The best way to describe this huge room was that it was like an engine room of a giant ship, the noise was so significant you had to wear earplugs. Freshly printed papers would speed past above them on machines that then bundled them together, ready for the delivery vans to take them to their destinations, spread across LA.
Amy eventually showed Tawnia to her desk.
"So, you're Amy Allen, right? As in the reporter who writes about the A Team?" Tawnia asked enthusiastically.
"Yeah, I've covered some of their stories," Amy replied modestly.
"You're the only reporter as far as I can tell."
"Well, I'm not sure about that." But Amy knew that she was, now pretty much the only reporter who got to cover their stories, because she was actually on the team.
"Wow, you must be like Lois Lane of the Daily Planet." Tawnia said dreamily.
"What?" Amy was puzzled by Tawnia's comments.
"Lois Lane always got the scoop on Superman, the exclusives! She was the only one able to, you know, as his favourite." Tawnia winked. "Amy, you always get the exclusives on the A Team, LA's own real life answer to a superhero!"
Amy chuckled at Tawnia's analogy.
"You're like the LA-Courier's very own Lois Lane!"
Amy smiled, she quite liked the idea, 'Lois Lane huh?' Gosh if she mentioned this to the guys she'd never hear the last of it. Their egos were big enough as it was. 'LA's own real life answer to a superhero,' she could imagine Hannibal's grin. Murdock did take her flying, mind you, although not quite the landings Superman would give, she thought to herself.
"So, come on, spill the beans, what are the guys really like?"
Hannibal had always recommended to Amy that she remained elusive about her involvement with the team. If the military got wind she was part of the team, she'd be bugged, tailed, you name it, constantly hounded by MPs. So she always made out that she never got to meet them. Her stories always covered from the angle of the team's clients and left the team mysterious, especially leaving out details about Murdock too. Hannibal liked the coverage, it was good for business but within reason.
"Oh, I can only tell you from what their clients have said. I've never met them!" Amy lied.
"Oh come on, Amy, you've got to have met them! I've read your stories." Tawnia said in disbelief.
"Honestly, I get my stories from their clients. So I can only go by their views."
"So how come no other reporter gets their stories?"
"Er, I don't know, I just get the leads."
"How though? The team must be passing on your name or something?"
"I don't know, it just happened. I suppose I got wind of one story and they've let me know about the rest, through their clients. The clients, I suppose in their gratitude to the A Team, want other people to know that the A Team helped them. These guys are the good guys." Amy hoped that would be sufficed. "Tawnia, I've got a heck of lot of work to catch up on, can we change the subject?"
Amy wandered back to her own desk but Tawnia followed. Zachary had joined the two women. Intrigued to meet the new reporter.
"Oh hi, Zach, this is Tawnia."
"Hi!" Zach held out his hand.
"Hi." And Tawnia shook it.
"Amy's hardly in the office. Where you been this time?"
"Zach, a good reporter doesn't get stories, sitting at her desk all day!" Amy replied sarcastically. She decided not to tell him that she'd just returned from Africa, helping a woman save her father's mine, not in front of Tawnia anyway. This would require more explaining and the girl was starting to get on her nerves.
Amy opened up the bottom drawer to her desk, to put some paperwork away and as she opened the drawer there was a folder on the top, which she usually hid at the bottom of the drawer. 'Damn' she thought. The folder had on it in small writing 'The A Team'. It was the original folder Zachary had given her over a year ago, in her search for the team. Before she could close the drawer, Tawnia had grabbed the folder.
"Huh? No information on the A Team, huh?" Tawnia waved the folder in front of Amy and then opened it up.
"Tawnia, please…" Amy was frustrated now.
Hannibal's picture was on the top.
"Not bad," Tawnia said as she eyed the photo and credentials of Hannibal. She flicked it over and saw BA's picture. "Oh! Wouldn't want to meet him in an alley on a dark night!"
Amy nearly jumped into BA's defence, as he's a lot softer than he looks, but decided not to; again it would mean admitting she knew more than she was letting on. The next picture was what Amy was dreading the most.
"Templeton Peck! Wow, check him out!" Tawnia showed the picture to Amy as if she hadn't seen it before. Amy rolled her eyes. "Now meeting him in a alley on a dark night, is a completely different matter! Can't believe you haven't tried to at least hook up with this guy, Amy? God damn, he's cute!"
"Apparently a real ladies man. The word relationship doesn't even exist in his vocabulary. He's the team's con artist, very smooth. I think the team nickname him Face." Amy tried not to give too much information away and tried to take the folder away from Tawnia, but she was still day dreaming into Face's blue eyes on the photograph.
"Tawnia! I have work to do!" Amy snatched the folder and put it in the bottom of her drawer. She would put it somewhere safer once Tawnia's back was turned. She didn't need her knowing any more information about the team.
END