Porthos walked into the transcription area to find all the cubicles empty. Since he had deliberately come at lunchtime, that was no surprise. He knew the one person he was looking for would be there, though.
"Hello, anyone here?" he called as he moved through the area.
A blond head popped up near the back. "Can I help you?"
"I hope so. I have a report to turn in this afternoon and I kinda didn't get it in soon enough to get typed up. Any chance you might be able to help me out?" he explained as he made his way to her, flashing her a grin and his dimples.
She smiled right back, her blue eyes twinkling, "And why can't you do it yourself?"
Porthos held up a hand with a laugh," My fingers aren't exactly keyboard friendly, especially on a time deadline."
"Okay, hand it over," she told him with a mock sigh.
Porthos handed her the recorded report he had made just an hour earlier, then pulled in a chair from another desk. While he waited, he thought about Aramis and the information he'd brought back from Gaston.
Finding out the informant inside the KM was an ex-girlfriend had not gone over well with the big bosses. Aramis had undergone intensive interrogations to be certain he had not revealed any information to Adele, but since she already had high clearance, it was a rather moot point. He had written an exhaustive report about everything that had been said or done between them, as well as all her interests and anything he could remember about her personal life.
The Inseparables had then spent two weeks coming up with and discarding various plans to get close to Adele and hopefully Marcheaux, and get more information on who wanted to kill them and why.
The creak of her chair brought Porthos out of his musings. "Is this real? You really think someone in the KM is passing information? And it's a woman?"
"Erm, yeah, afraid so." Porthos told her, scratching the back of his uncomfortably. His report didn't give any names.
"Oh, Lord, it;s not any of the girls in here, is it?" she asked, then waved her hands at him. "I know, you couldn't tell me anyway. Well, here is your report. Good luck."
Porthos took the recording and the paper and walked a few feet before turning back. "Um, since I interrupted your lunch, could I make it up to you by taking you to dinner?"
"Sure. I'm Elodie." she introduced herself. "The top page has my address and phone. You're Porthos. I know from the report."
Porthos knocked on Elodie's door at precisely the agreed on time. She answered a minute later, inviting him in. "Sorry, I was watching a program with Norman and lost track of time. I'll just be another minute."
"Norman?" Porthos queried, looking for signs of a child.
"The fuzzy ball on the chair." she called from the bedroom. "Would you mind bringing him in here?"
Porthos carefully put a hand under the fuzzy ball and picked it up, talking softly and gently stroking Norman. By the time he got to the bedroom, he was tickling Norman's belly.
Elodie smiled as she took the hedgehog and put him in his cage. "He likes you."
"Does that mean I passed the test?" Porthos asked.
Elodie just continued to smile, "Have I passed yours?"
On the drive to the restaurant, they found they shared quite a few common interests. Over appetizers, Porthos answered her questions about the investigation. By the time they got to dessert, Elodie had proposed a plan that would hopefully narrow down who the informant was and help lead them to her contact.
The next day, Porthos again came to her cubicle at lunch, this time with a drive full of files for them to review. He also brought sandwiches and chips. While they ate, they looked at the files and Elodie would give him what personal information she knew about each of the women. When her file appeared, she started laughing. Then she began telling outrageous facts about herself that soon had Porthos laughing so hard, he had tears running down his cheeks.
Soon, they had the list narrowed down to the ten most likely women, including Adele. The next step would be to investigate them on a one-to-one basis. Elodie had a suggestion for that as well - that she and Porthos act like a couple so they could be invited to more social functions to interact with the women.
Porthos agreed and said he'd run it by the Captain.
Back in the offices that the Inseparables all shared, it was quiet, for which Porthos was glad. He sat at his desk and tried to think of the best approach for what he wanted to say to Captain Treville. When the Captain arrived, Porthos just blurted out that he couldn't continue with the assignment. Captain Teville smiled and told him it had already been assigned to D'Artagnan. Confused at what had just happened, Porthos just said Thanks. He mentally retracted the thank you a moment later when Treville told him he had to let Elodie know. In person. That evening.
He had barely put his arm down from knocking on Elodie's door when she opened it.
"Oh, good. Here, hold Norman and keep him calm." she told him, handing him the hedgehog and walking to her bedroom.
He followed, noticing little piles of stuff scattered around the living area."What on earth - ?"
"It's cleaning day and Norman hates it. This next one is always the worst."
She was kneeling at the side of the bed. Norman was watching her and making little squeaky noises. Porthos stroked him without thinking about it, ttrying to soothe him.
"Would you like me to do that?" he offered.
Elodie looked at him and got a mischievous look on her face."You wouldn't fit under the bed. Can't wait to see you on it, though." and she crawled underneath as Porthos was trying to process what she said.
A running commentary started as she flung things out from where she was. Finally, she wiggled back out, holding a small stuffed doll. "Really, Norman? You've been whining about Dinsdale all week, but I never saw him under there when I looked."
She took a surprisingly guilty-looking Norman from Porthos and put him in his cage with the doll, then went back out to the living area. She started sorting through one pile while Porthos started to try to explain.
He sat in one of the chairs."Elodie, about the plan to find the woman passing the information -"
"Adele's the one doing it." she stated matter-of-factly. "You already knew that when you brought me the report, that's why there was no name of a possible suspect. The idea was to use me to get closer to her. If I hadn't come up with the plan, you would have found a way."
Porthos was staring at her, no idea of what to say.
"You're here now," she continued, "to tell me that D'Artagnan will take over, so there's no need for us to have to pretend to be seeing each other."
"How -?" Porthos wasn't sure what question to ask.
Elodie sat on the coffee table facing him. "Answer two questions and I'll tell you. First - would you have a problem seeing and working with me on a daily basis?"
" 'Course not. You had a bloody good plan and you're one of the smartest women I've met."
Elodie smiled. "Thanks. Would that opinion change if our circumstances changed?"
"Not sure what you mean?"
"I knew it was Adele because I transcribed Aramis' initial report." she informed him. "I talked to Constance about it and I'm the one that came up with the plan for you to come to me with your report. And to give me the chance to propose my plan."
"You used me" Porthos accused her. "Why?
"Because the only way I could move out of that damn cubicle was to have an active agent show I could be of use doing something besides typing a damn report. And it has to be the agent's choice, I can't ask them to do it."
"So you and Constance cooked this whole thing up? That's downright devious."
Elodie stood up. "No worse than what was planned for me, really." she pointed out.
Porthos stayed sitting as he questioned, "So, I take it from the earlier question, this new job I apparently helped you with is working directly with me and the others on the team?"
Elodie just nodded.
"Then I have one question for you - do you think you can maintain yourself professionally tomorrow?" he asked reaching for her hand.
Before she could answer, Porthos pulled her into his lap and kissed her.