The pair sat in a rear booth of Fraunces Tavern, one of the oldest restaurant bars in New York City. Anyone who might have seen them would have thought they might be celebrating some major event and they would have been right. However, it was not an engagement or promotion being celebrated, it was an anniversary.

"To us, Ducks! Can you believe we've been partners for a year? And they said it wouldn't last!"

April raised her champagne flute to clink it against Mark's glass of scotch. "To us," she repeated and then sipped her drink. "Cheers." She dug her knife into the pate' appetizer they were sharing and spread it on a cracker. Popping it into her mouth, she closed her eyes as she savored it. "Mmmm, this is fantastic. If our steaks are as good as this, I am going to be in heaven! Oh, remember that time in Milan?"

Mark chuckled and nodded his head. "Bloody hell! There I was running starkers along the side of the road when you pulled up alongside me in that red Triumph!" The chuckle grew into a full blown laugh. "I didn't know what I was happier about, the getaway car or the fact that you had an extra THRUSH jumpsuit that fit me!" He leaned back against the booth and gazed at April with a smile on his face.

"What?"

"Remember 'The Forgotten Man Affair?'"

"In Billings, Montana? Sure, what about it?"

"We'd been partners for about four months at that point. That was the first assignment I ever had that affected me adversely.* I had swallowed all my feelings and figured I would just have to tough it out."

"And I wouldn't let you."

"You wouldn't let me," he intoned. He picked up her hand and kissed it. "Thank you for that, Luv. Do you remember what you said to me on that park bench?" He didn't wait for her answer. "You said you were my shrink, my doctor, my lawyer, my everything because we're partners."

April grinned and stroked his face. "I told you to stopped being coy and talk to me."

"Yeah, you did. You made me open up; you wanted us to have as open a relationship as Napoleon and Illya. This is a crazy life we lead, if we couldn't talk to each other, if I couldn't be honest with you, I don't think I would have made it this far and this long as an agent."

"I know I wouldn't have." She shuddered. "Do you remember that car ride back from Upstate New York? When we ran into those…whatever they were?** I thought we were going to die!"

"So did I. I had never been so scared in all my life! Looking back on it now, I don't know what scared me more: Those things or your driving."

That earned him a thump on the arm. "That was the first time we ran into something supernatural. From what Illya and Napoleon said, it might not be the last."

Mark shrugged. "I don't even want to think about it."

Their entrees were served and the two focused on their dinners as they ate in companionable silence. April dabbed her mouth with her napkin and said, "Mark, I have something to say."

"Sounds serious."

"It is. One year ago, I arrived at UNCLE New York not knowing anyone except Mr. Waverly. He and Napoleon met with me and told me that based on my psychiatric and emotional evaluations, they were pairing me with a transfer from the London office with whom they were sure I would get along. I was hoping that you would give me a chance to prove myself as an agent, that you would look past the fact that I'm a woman and not resent me because I was 'trying to do a man's job.' You did that. Mark, you've never treated me like I was 'less than,' you've never acted like my opinions and thoughts weren't as important as yours and you've always treated me as an equal partner in this team. I appreciate that so much." She was charmed to see he was actually blushing. "I mean it! You've become my everything; my partner, best friend, brother, father confessor…"

"Tinker, tailor, candlestick maker…I know I'm the bee's knees, Luv, but don't you think you're piling it on just a wee bit?"

"Perhaps, but I know that our partnership works, it has flourished and I am convinced that anything that comes our way, we'll see it through to the end and that's because of you, Mark, so from that perspective, I can't pile it on thick enough."

Touched, Mark leaned over and kissed her cheek. "I'm honored, April, that you feel that way about me and our partnership. Truth be told, I feel the same." He refilled both their glasses and then raised his. When April mirrored his gestured he said, "To a better year; may we continue to grow as partners and as agents!"

"Hear, hear!"

*ref. to my tale "Tell Me Your Troubles"

**ref. to my tale "The Long Drive Home"