Note: This will be a series of drabble-ish shorts with an ongoing plot. I don't own Yes, Minister or any of these characters; only the plot. Enjoy!

"I'm sorry Humphrey, I seem to have developed a terrible headache. Would you mind repeating that?"

Sir Humphrey gave Hacker a careful glance, his concern masquerading as frustration as he spoke again, slowly and with simpler terminology. Hacker looked surprised by his easy acquiescence, not to mention smug, but Humphrey barely noticed. Over the past few weeks, he had noticed that the minister seemed to be suffering these headaches with increasing frequency and severity. Sometimes, he was aware, Hacker had required him to repeat whole conversations because of it.

Humphrey became conscious of the furrow in his brow almost the instant it emerged, and smoothed his expression as he turned to face the minister. It would not do to allow a few stray emotions get in the way of his professionalism.

On the other hand, it couldn't hurt to keep an eye on those headaches...