Present Day
The first thing that caught Joe's eye as he came out of his office the next evening was a blond head over a grey suit. Rook was back and nursing a drink at the bar. The second thing that caught his eye made Joe hurry towards the bar as fast as he could because no way in hell would he leave Rook alone with Adam who had just come through the door. The Immortal hadn't seen them yet but Joe was sure it would only be a matter of time.
When his eyes finally fell on Rook the grin on Adam's face was just short of predatory, Joe thought, and it made him frown. He greeted Mike and shooed him off to the other side of the bar before turning towards Mr. Rook with a big grin.
"Welcome back, it seems my little bar is to your liking? Is it the music, the alcohol or the great company that brought you back tonight?"
The wry smile Rook gave him to acknowledge his banter and the still mostly full glass of whiskey in front of the Englishman showed Joe that he wasn't drunk yet.
"Good evening, Joe. I'll have you know that both my headache this morning and my conscience would not have allowed me to come back for the rather excellent alcohol alone. I must apologize for my behaviour last night."
Joe shrugged and smiled at the younger man.
"Don't worry about it too much. No harm done. And if one member of a secret organisation can't talk to another than who can? Your secret's as save with me as mine is with you."
That brought a small relieved smile to Rook's much too grim face. Of course Adam chose that moment to lean against the bar next to Rook and smile a big grin at both men.
"Hey Joe, hey Joe's grey friend, fancy seeing you here."
Rook lifted an eyebrow.
"Good evening, Mr…Adam, was it? I take it you are a regular patron here?"
Joe put a beer down in front of the Immortal and glared at him.
"He's more of a thorn in my side than a patron. Sooner or later I'll have to make him clean glasses to work off that bar tab he's never paying."
Adam just took a sip of his beer and looked fondly at Joe.
"You'd miss me if I didn't come and steal your beer, Joe, admit it. After all, who else would you pump for old anecdotes then?"
Joe made a shooing gesture with the hand not holding his cane.
"Off with you, you vagabond. The times when you could pay in a bar with stories alone are long over."
Rook watched their interaction with curiosity. These two men clearly knew each other well and despite their words were fond of each other. Yet there was more to them than the obvious. There seemed to be a double meaning to a lot of their conversation.
"If you don't mind me asking, how do you two know each other? Work, by any chance?"
Joe's smirk showed clearly that he had picked up on Rook's suspicions.
"Oh, yes, Adam use to be a colleague, but he got fired."
Adam gasped at Joe's words in mock outrage.
"Fired? I did not get fired. I… well, I'd say it was more like I quit but not quite voluntarily."
Joe laughed. Rook tried to catch a glimpse of Adam's wrists but the sleeves of the other man's coat were quite successfully hiding any tattoo that might or might not be there.
"I see his being let go from this job is a sore point", the Englishman said with a small grin. "I also did not think your kind of work did fire people. It seems to be more of a…um, long term commitment?"
"They don't, usually, they expect kind of a live long contract, but as with many things Adam made them bend the rules a little. Special circumstances and all that."
Adam looked rather too smug at that, Joe thought.
"Shall we stop pussyfooting around now? All this cloak and dagger is giving me a headache. Yes, I used to be a Watcher, no, I'm not one now. And I doubt they are very happy with me about any of that. But c'est la vie."
If this blatant admission shocked Rook he didn't show it. He merely nodded like someone whose suspicions had just been confirmed.
"And how is the monster hiding business going these days?"
Adam's unexpected question nearly made Rook spit out his whiskey. He swallowed quickly and coughed as he nearly chocked on the alcohol.
"I beg your pardon?"
The look he shot Joe was cold enough to freeze hell. Joe lifted his hands in a defensive gesture.
"Hey, don't look at me, I didn't tell him a thing. He already knew."
The ice eyes turned on Adam who, unsurprisingly, seemed completely unaffected.
"What exactly do you know and how did you come by this knowledge, Mr. Adam?"
The Immortal finished his beer and put the bottle down on the bar. He shrugged nonchalantly and affected his best harmless researcher look.
"Oh, just that you're the ones who sweep all the things that go bump in the night under a big grey carpet. Admirable work, really, and dangerous work as well. I had a bit of a run in with your world a while back. It is all rather fascinating, I think. But the lack of reliable information on the subject can be so very frustrating. And stop with the Mr, it's just Adam."
Rook sighed and emptied his glass.
"You might find that sooner rather than later there will be rather a lot of publicly available information on the subject. My department is being dissolved. Budget cuts will be responsible for humans finding out about all the monsters hiding in their midst. It will not be pretty, I am sure."
For the first time since he had joined their conversation the grin vanished from Adam's face as he realized the seriousness of Rook's situation.
"They've fired you? Are they mad? People aren't ready to learn about supernaturals. It will be utter chaos, witch hunts, the Spanish Inquisition 2.0. And when they know about supernaturals how long will it be until they find out about Immortals, too? This is not good, not good at all."
Joe was a bit surprised at Adam's reaction. Surely he didn't think that people would suddenly start believing in vampires and werewolves just because Rook and his men weren't there to help hide that other world any longer? No one believed in monsters nowadays.
Rook's icy glare had softened when he realized that Adam was as aware of the consequences as he himself was.
"I am doing everything in my power to prevent this catastrophe, I assure you. But it seems that there is nothing more I can do. I have been all together too good at my job. I made it seem easy and my department unnecessary. Now the Home Secretary thinks Special Branch can take over but they will be completely out of their depth. They don't have the training or the experience necessary."
Adam put a comforting hand on one grey clad shoulder and leaned in with a conspiratory look on his face.
"It seems to me some plotting is needed here and as it were I am rather good at that."
Joe groaned audibly. What was the old man getting them into now?