Gwen shrugged off her leather jacket and hung it on what appeared to be actual tree branches with actual leaves. Fitting, she supposed, for this place. Pulling off her hat and hooking it next to her jacket, she shook out her hair as she examined her surroundings. Nothing appeared out of the ordinary, but she knew better than to let her guard down. After two weeks of surveillance, she knew a lot about Milk & Honey - where the back exit was, who their loyal customers were, where their milk was sourced from and most importantly, when the owner, Leather Pants, as he was known by her office, made his visits.
"One banana milkshake with wheatgrass. No ice." Gwen smiled at the scrawny lad who manned the counter, squinting at the name on his apron. "Less sugar, please. Thank you Harry."
Milk & Honey wasn't somewhere she would normally choose to go - none of the hipsterish drinks that Milk & Honey was famous for appealed to her. The cafe, or "Health Club" as the club's PR insisted it be called, was fairly crowded. Young, trendy adults, who apparently didn't need to work, cradled the raw, organic drinks in their hands while they kept up a constant chatter. Others made their orders at the counter, then walking out with the famous blue and yellow cups. For a business that was essentially a front, Milk & Honey was doing very well.
Gwen nodded when Harry the waiter slid the drink towards her. Leather Pants wasn't expected until half an hour later, according to the chatter the others had intercepted last night. With some luck, the intelligence would be good and she would finally have visual on his partner, the ever elusive M. A table tucked conveniently at the back of the club, right next to the back staff entrance, was the perfect place. Settling in, she pulled out a book and took a sip of her drink.
"May I?"
Gwen had noticed that the oddly familiar-looking blond man, with striking blue eyes, wearing a faded t-shirt and fitting jeans, was walking over to her but she'd hoped that he was simply heading for the toilets behind. She didn't need the distraction of trying to avoid a pick up right now, especially from one as attractive as him. She had slouched lower into her seat and put a scowl on her face, but apparently that wasn't enough to put him off.
"No." She kept her attention on her book, refusing to make eye-contact and hoped that he wasn't one of those guys who couldn't take a hint.
He was.
He dragged out the chair next to her, and sprawled on it, sending her a lazy grin that sent the most inconvenient heat shooting through her.
"There are other empty tables," she muttered. A glance at the large clock told her that Leather Pants should be making an appearance in about fifteen minutes. She had to get rid of this man.
"Mmm," he said, a smile teasing his lips. "But none of them have you there."
Steeling herself against his easy charm, she frowned at him. "I'm only going to say this one more time - go away."
"Or?" He moved and his arm brushed against hers, annoyingly sending a shiver through her.
"Or I'm going to hurt you."
His grin widened. "Did you know that aubergines were called crazy apples in Renaissance Italy?"
Gwen stilled. She couldn't believe this was happening.
"Perhaps," he continued, ignoring the way she stared at him, "you would like to tell me something about peaches."
"I can't believe they sent you here," she hissed, even as her own curiosity went into overdrive. Not many people had the chance to meet one of the most celebrated agents, and now he was sitting next to her. Her curiosity melted into resentment. Yes, she was a junior agent but she'd successfully closed her last case. Why did they decide to send a babysitter now?
"We can get to know each other later. Right now -" Agent A gestured to the door.
Leather Pants had arrived. He chatted with the staff, played around with the till and made himself a drink. Nothing unusual. In the meantime, Agent A was flirting with her. In a way. He whispered more information that the agency had gathered about Leather Pants and M into her ear while at the same time, playing with her hair and leaning so close she could smell the soap he used. Why did he choose this as their cover? Why not estranged siblings? It took all her training and a huge chunk of her self-discipline to not get distracted by the way he smelled or the fact that her heart insisted on racing every time his breath caressed her skin.
"Magic dealing?"
"Mmm." He leaned even closer and tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. Warm breath fluttered against her ear. "That's why you're getting backup."
"I can handle this!" She turned her head to further inform him of her various qualifications and skills, only to catch sight of a tall woman stepping through the entrance. She joined the queue but not before exchanging a look with Leather Pants, whose only response was a lift of his eyebrows.
She leaned into Agent A. "M."
Agent A glanced at the counter. "I think you're right."
As they surreptitiously sipped their healthy drinks and watched M and Leather Pants, Agent A continued to lean into her, his hand tracing the hem of her dress. She shifted slightly, not sure if she wanted his hand to move away or move higher, but she didn't have much time to ponder that question when Leather Pants disappeared up the stairs. Moments later, M did the same. Without thinking, Gwen grabbed Agent A's hand.
"Let's go."
He stood and entangled his fingers with hers, then followed her to the back of the shop. "Lead the way, Agent G. I am a good follower. Do you know what's up there?"
"An office. It's always locked but the door isn't solid wood, which means -."
Agent A stilled. "Good job. I'm impressed."
Gwen tried to ignore how her heart seemed to expand at his praise. So what if he was the star agent? She didn't care what he thought. With a tug, she urged him up the stairs.
Sure enough, they were met by a shut door at the top of the stairs. Gwen whipped out a small disc and pressed it against the door. When Agent A moved to do the same, she frowned at him. It was enough that she had to endure his flirting downstairs and his intrusion into her case. She was going to bring back the intelligence on her own. To ensure he understood that, she stretched out a foot and shoved him away. He rolled his eyes, removed his hand to show that he'd attached a tiny wall microphone and recorder to the door.
"Just in case," he said and plastered himself to her back.
His scent enveloped her, the clean smell of fabric teasing both her nose and her hormones. Damn it, he was such a distraction. That was probably how he became the agency's top agent - by ensuring no one else could concentrate when he was around. She shot him a glare, trying to convey to him just how annoying he was, but received another of his wide, smarmy smiles.
The voices coming from the room were raised now and even without their tools, Gwen could make out what they were saying. Money was clearly the root of all evil. Then, just as Gwen was trying to put togethe the snippets of conversation that she heard, it stopped. Then, there were footsteps. Before she could warn Agent A, she felt the door move. So she did what any self-respecting agent would do in order not to get caught - she grabbed Agent A and kissed him. For once, he was the one at an disadvantage. His eyes widened and he stumbled backwards until he smacked into the wall. But within seconds, he was kissing her back, dragging his tongue across her lips. He tasted like strawberries and milk and his hands gripped her waist, pulling her tight against him. There was far too much contact between them and Gwen could feel his heart thumping against hers. Her own heart seemed to be running a marathon. She ran her hands through his hair, the smooth strands sliding through her fingers, a contrast to the slight roughness against her lips. Then, as Agent A moved his lips from hers to her neck, she tugged his shirt out of his jeans. This had, of course, nothing to do with the fact that she had the urge to feel his bare skin, to feel if it was smooth and warm as she had imagined in her head, not that she had imagined anything of that sort. Nope. When Leather Pants and M exited, they needed to think that they had been making out so heavily that they had paid no attention to them. It was all very strategic.
The moment her hand made contact with the warm skin under his shirt, he sucked in a breath and his stomach trembled. Gwen felt a shot of triumph at the evidence that she affected him as well. One of Agent A's hands reached lower, then slipped under her skirt and cupped her bum, squeezing gently and all the practical thoughts in Gwen's head made a swift retreat. Agent A was dragging his mouth across her cheek, jaw and neck, pressing wet kisses on her skin - wet kisses that he tongued. Little sparks of electricity burst against her skin and Gwen suspected that without his arm wrapped around her waist, holding her tightly against his body, she would not be able to stand. Surely it hadn't been that long since she'd been without someone in her bed. For a brief moment, she tried to recall when she had broken up with Lance, but a light but deliberate swipe of Agent A's finger between her legs quickly banished all thoughts of another man. Instinct made her spread her legs and press her hips harder against him, searching for something that would ease the throbbing ache. That something quickly came in the form of Agent A's fingers which were now slipping under the edge of her panties. She might have moaned something. Agent A definitely growled, his teeth nipping against her shoulder. Whatever she did - moan, whimper or beg - it did the job and Agent A slid his fingers in her.
"Excuse me."
"Fuck."
Gwen jumped backward, thankful when her skirt fell to cover her. She tried to regulate her breathing as her hands fussed with her clothes.
"This area is private," said Leather Pants, his eyes sliding below her chin to settle on her exposed cleavage, exposed because at some point, Agent A must have unbuttoned the top two buttons of her blouse. At least she hoped it was Agent A and not her. His voice hardened as his eyes moved to Agent A. "You shouldn't be here."
"Sorry," said Agent A. "We got a bit carried away. We'll go now."
Without waiting for a response, Agent A took her hand, deftly pressing their recording devices into it. Her hand enveloped in Agent A's, they ran down the stairs and out of the cafe. Relief and adrenaline flooded through her and she reacted the way she always did. She laughed. Brows lifted, Agent A watched her, a smile curling his lips and amusement dancing in his eyes. He bent and his warm breath against her ear reminded Gwen of what the two of them were doing just moments ago. Her heart thudded.
"You have a long day ahead transcribing this, Agent. I'll see you again, soon."
He touched her cheek lightly, then as suddenly as he'd appeared, he was gone.
"I like her. A lot."
"Agent Sexy brought in some -"
"What kind of codename is Agent Sexy?" Arthur tossed a crumpled piece of paper towards the bin, groaning when it landed just beside. "And frankly, Agent G should be called Agent Sexy. Not Gwaine."
Merlin placed his tablet down on the table, leaned back into his chair and crossed his arms. "I'm listening."
The pen he was playing with suddenly became really interesting, and Arthur uncapped it to look at the nib. It was another of Merlin's new inventions - a lie-detector pen. It looked like a cheap, plastic pen but the glow that encased it signaled to all that it was magic.
"Arthur. Do you want to talk about her or not? Because I have a bunch of stuff to do."
He lifted a shoulder in what he hoped was a careless manner. Not that it would work with Merlin. They were far too close for any of his usual tricks to distract Merlin.
"Suit yourself. You're the one who keeps bringing her up." Merlin tapped on his tablet again, but Arthur knew this game well.
Letting out a sigh, Arthur picked up the file he'd purloined earlier from Headquarters. It wasn't technically illegal given his position in the organisation, but reading an agent's file because he had a crush on them was probably not the reason he was given such access. Still, a successful agent was one who took all opportunities and that was what Arthur had done. He might have had the upper hand yesterday due to the element of surprise but she had been more than able to keep up with him, even when he was distracting her. It was also more than clear that she found him attractive, which boosted his ego somewhat. Only she was clearly attracted to -
"Hello Arthur. I know you're thinking about her. Yes, she's pretty and from what I've heard, pretty damn competent as well. And obviously, you're interested in her. So my advice would be to talk to her when both of you are not on the job."
"You make it sound so easy," grumbled Arthur as he opened the file and looked at the photo of her inside. There was a slight frown and her lips were slightly pursed, as if she was hoping that the recruiters would take her seriously. He smiled at that thought and touched her lips with his finger, remembering how it felt to kiss her.
"I know how hopeless you are, so I did you a favour."
Arthur looked up at Merlin who wore a far too smug look on his face. Anxiety gripped him as he remembered the last time Merlin attempted to help him, then he immediately tried not to remember the aggressive chickens and their fucking sharp talons. Chickens don't have talons, Merlin had said then, but Merlin hadn't been the one in the coop trying to escape with his clothes intact. After his close encounter with the chickens, Arthur felt he was enough of an expert on chickens to know.
"You should put that file away," said Merlin. "She's going to be here any moment. I believe she is the punctual type."
Arthur blinked. "She is coming here?"
The grin Merlin had on widened. "Yup. Told her to come in and get her devices checked. Her check is due anyway. I just brought it forward a couple of days."
Standing up so quickly he knocked his chair away, Arthur stuffed the file into his bag. "Damn it, Merlin. I'm not prepared."
"That's the whole point."
Before Arthur could retort, someone knocked on the door. His heartbeat raced, from anticipation or nerves, Arthur wasn't sure. It would be so easy to slip into one of the many personas he'd developed for the job, but it took time, time that he clearly didn't have right now since Merlin was crossing his office and pulling the door open.
"Agent G. Glad that you could make it. Heard you had a long day yesterday."
She took Merlin's offered hand, a smile on her face. "No problem. I suppose you could call yesterday interesting but it yielded some good information."
This was the point he should reveal his presence, ask smoothly about what good information about Leather Pants she'd discovered, but like clockwork, his throat tightened and all that escaped was a guttural growl. She jumped back, turning her head to where he stood.
"Agent A! I'm sorry. Am I interrupting something?" She moved towards the door. Arthur looked at her face, seeing the surprise then wariness in her eyes. Probably unconsciously, she smoothed her skirt then pushed her hair away from her face. Her breathing appeared to become shallower. At least she wasn't immune to him.
"Good information is good," he said inanely, cringing inside as the words left his mouth. Why was it always like that? He had no problem flirting with her yesterday, when he was in his John persona. But now, trying to be himself, he couldn't think of one decent line to say to her that would suggest that he wasn't a, what was that word Merlin used, clotpole. At least, Merlin would tell him, he had his looks. Yet somehow, he suspected that as much as his looks might appeal to her, she wasn't that superficial.
The tension in her eyes eased a little. "It is good information, but I'm sure you'll hear all about it during our meeting later."
"Yes."
She didn't say anything, as if waiting for him to say more. But all he could think to say was that her hair looked lovely let down like that and her eyes were the prettiest he'd seen. Arthur didn't think she wanted to hear that. When he continued to stare dumbly at her, she frowned, then turned her attention back to Merlin. Relieved, he took the chance to watch her - the graceful way she moved as she took out all her magic devices for Merlin's inspection, the fidgety tapping of her feet against the carpet as she waited for Merlin to complete the inspection. His mind wandered back to yesterday, remembering the breathy gasps that she made when he touched her. That alone was enough to make him half hard again and he started to count his breaths in an effort to keep his thoughts away from all the delicious things he wanted to do with her.
"Thanks Merlin." Her voice penetrated his fantasies. "Uh, I'll see you later Agent A."
"Yeah."
This time, the look she gave him was slightly confused, but then she shook her head and walked out of Merlin's office.
"Well, you showed her your true self, that's for sure," said Merlin.
Arthur groaned and rubbed a hand across his face. "You could have at least told me that she was dropping by. I'd have prepared something."
"Like what? A script? A personality transplant? You're a hotshot agent. You made out with her yesterday and today you can't even say hi?" Merlin sighed. "You're hopeless."
"It was different. I was pretending to be her lover yesterday. And she knew that. Now, it's awkward."
Merlin rolled his eyes. "Ask her out after the meeting."
"We'll see," said Arthur, the idea of asking her out causing butterflies in his stomach. But Merlin was right. Ask him to negotiate a hostage situation or jump out of an airplane and he had no problems. Face to face with someone he liked and he regressed to his teenage years. "We'll see."
Her hair was tied up again for the meeting. Arthur suspected that this gave her confidence. Yesterday, he'd been asked to look out for her since she had planned to enter Leather Pant's den but she was the primary agent on this case. So when he walked into the meeting room, he made sure to sit in a corner, allowing her to take the center stage. She shook hands with the bosses, then scanned the room until her eyes landed on him. He tried for a casual smile and she nodded. It left him cold and he wondered if the chemistry they had shared yesterday was simply due to some excellent acting skills. Still, he kept his eyes on her as she presented the information she'd retrieved from yesterday.
"It was fortunate that Agent A came to provide backup," she said without looking at him. "I had not prepared for magic wards, thus my recording disc would not have worked. But Agent A had a trusty mechanical recorder -"
Arthur heard the murmur among their bosses, judging her. "I would have been just as unprepared had I not known that Leather Pants and M were dealing in illegal magic." He sought the eyes of Kil, the wizened chef of the agency. "Perhaps it would be better that we are more open with our information."
When her eyes met his this time, she smiled. He knew he was grinning in response, but Arthur didn't care.
As the bosses filed out of the meeting room, Arthur lingered as she packed up her notes and files. Merlin's advice echoed in his head and he ran through various possible ways of asking her out. He was debating between something direct and something that would allow for her to reject him without too much embarrassment when he felt a gentle touch on his arm.
"Thanks, for earlier."
"It was the truth. I had information you didn't so I was prepared. You would have been to, if you had known."
"Still, thank you." She was no longer touching him and looked as if she was about to walk away.
"Do you like coffee?"
She hesitated, her eyes bright with curiosity. "And if I do?"
He shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans. "I like coffee and I know where there is good coffee."
"Good coffee is good."
At her words, heat rushed to his face as he remembered his words from before. He expected her to be laughing at him, but she looked just as flustered as he felt.
"I didn't mean - I mean, yes I generally like coffee. Not all coffee, but yes. To answer your question I like coffee. With milk."
"I like my coffee with milk too," he said.
"Coffee with milk is good."
"I agree."
"It's good that we are agreed."
Silence stretched between them as they stared at each other. Then when they both could no longer stand the silence, they spoke together, their words tumbling over each other. She laughed first, a lilting, musical sound, and Arthur found himself joining in.
"I wanted to ask you out for coffee," Arthur said once the laughing stopped. Tension held his body stiff as he waited for her answer. After that conversation, he couldn't blame her turning him down.
"Oh." It was as if that possibility hadn't even occurred to her. "I - well - yes. I would like to go for coffee."
Gwen jostled the lock a little, then it finally gave and the door slid silently open. A quick glance at the empty corridors, then she darted into the room.
"Ok, I'm in."
"I know. That, by the way was very hot. I like it when you use your hands."
"Stop that," hissed Gwen even as her body reacted to his low growl in her ear. "I'm at the controls now. What do I do?"
His chuckle slithered through her body and her very unprofessional nipples tighten. She scowled into the darkness. "The drive - insert it into the port at the back of the control deck. You'll need to feel for it. It should feel like small triangle."
The control deck was a pretty large thing so Gwen had to plaster herself against it before she could reach around. "Right."
"Merlin really should figure out how to magic this thing so I can see you."
She rolled her eyes even as her lips curved into a smile. "You see me plenty enough."
Her arms were too short and she groaned as she attempted to stretch her arms further behind.
"I recognise that groan," he murmured. "Last night -"
"Yes!" The drive slid smoothly into the port.
"My thoughts exactly. We need to repeat last night again."
This time, she laughed although she bit down to try and stifle it. Gwen agreed that last night should be repeated, but she wasn't going to encourage his ridiculous attempt at seduction, not during work hours anyway.
"Pay attention. The drive is in. Now what?"
He rattled off a list of instructions, the low, casual tone from earlier disappearing as he became all business.
"Well?"
She looked at the screen. "I think we did it."
"Good," he said, still serious and businesslike. "Get out of there quickly."
"Is someone coming?" She reached around and removed the drive. Pocketing it, she moved to the door. The corridor seemed silent, but perhaps he had picked up something.
"No. I miss you. So hurry up."
"You're ridiculous, Arthur."
"No names, Agent G," he said. "It's against protocol."
She let his laugh seep into her and warm her body and heart.