Sorry this chapter is kind of short. I'm currently in London for LonCon (world sci-fi convention) and The Crucible, so I had less time and opportunity to write. I'm quite fond of this, though. :)
williewildcat: I thank Richard Armitage for many things. XD I'm glad you discovered Spooks! And I'm also rather pleased that this story has sparked a desire to write in this fandom. :) Thank you for your review, dear!
ayshin79: *nods* Imagining Richard playing out these scenes...well, it does a girl good. Yes, I deliberately left the ending of the previous chapter vague. Lucas might have had completely innocent thoughts, for all we know, lol. Thank you for your review, darling!
Disclaimer: They finally get somewhere. I only own Varinia, Clive, and Damla (who you're about to meet).
Enjoy! :)
Chapter 10: Body Language
Clive was waiting in the lobby when Lucas and Varinia were admitted through security. He gave them a tense smile in greeting.
"Long night?"
Lucas glanced at Varinia, the dark circles prominent under her eyes. He imagined he looked equally tired.
"You could say that," she hedged.
Varinia must have sounded hesitant, because Clive looked from her to Lucas with a knowing and somewhat amused glint in his eyes. Lucas stepped closer to the linguist. Better the man thought they were involved, rather than hiding potentially significant information.
"You mentioned developments?" he prodded.
"Yes, follow me." Clive led them towards the lift, which took them up to the third floor. He ushered them into a medium-sized conference room, where a youngish Turkish woman was already sitting. She introduced herself a Damla, one of the Turkish secret service agents tasked with facilitating cooperation between MİT and MI6.
"We currently have an asset in Ardahan's main hospital's morgue," she explained. "And according to her reports, the situation there is getting worse. A third person has died suspiciously."
"Suspiciously?" Lucas repeated. "What is the cause of death listed?"
"Natural, like Eda's and the second victim's, who remains unnamed."
"Does your asset have access to the bodies?" Varinia asked.
"Yes, except the three linked to our mystery illness. Only the chief medical examiner has access to those." Damla smiled grimly. "Our asset has been working at the morgue for five years. She is often the first and last person to have contact with the bodies. This is the first time access to them has been restricted."
"What about the paperwork?" Lucas asked. "Has she seen the autopsy reports?"
"They're kept behind lock and key, as well," Damla replied, her smile turning rueful. "But there's more." She opened a folder and gave each of them a piece of paper. On it was Chimaera. "We've recently intercepted this from some Russian FSB agents. Our initial assessment is that it might be some sort of code."
Lucas glimpsed Varinia from the corner of his eye. Her brows were furrowed, as she scanned the file. Play dumb, Harry had said. So they played dumb.
"Russian FSB agents?" he questioned.
Damla looked at Lucas. "Our Russians have been talking to your Russians," she answered. "An FSB man in London named Mikhail Kolesnikov called an FSB man in Ankara named Boris Trotsky. That writing is a transcript of their conversation."
"We know about this," said Clive, glancing between Lucas and Varinia. "And I suspect MI5 does, too."
They were caught, but to her credit, Varinia was unabashed, as she said, "I don't think it's code. If it were, the code-breaking program would have found something by now."
Damla seemed surprised by the linguist's forthright statement. Sharp. That was how Lucas had described Varinia to Harry. And she was. Deceptively so.
"That's true," the MİT agent conceded. "Unless it's a new kind of code whose patterns are not recognized by the softwares."
"Or a language," Clive suggested. He looked pointedly at Varinia, but it was Lucas who spoke.
"We've seen this message before but only just recently."
"And?" Clive prompted. "Surely a polyglot such as yourself, Varinia, would have learned something about it."
Before she could look to Lucas for guidance, he took her hand beneath the table and gave it a little squeeze. Varinia squeezed back, grateful for the reassurance.
"Well, actually, I have." Releasing Lucas' hand to take out her notebook, she flipped a few pages and handed it to Clive. "That's all I have thus far."
The MI6 agent read through her notes, then passed the book to Damla. "No wonder you had a long night," he remarked.
"You list Turkish as one of component languages," noted Damla. "Why?"
"Vocabulary, mostly," Varinia replied. "But I've only just begun to deconstruct the amalgamation. And I've hit a snag already."
"Asian," murmured Clive.
The linguist nodded. "I've never traveled farther east than Turkey, so I haven't learned any of the Asian languages."
"But you still believe at least one of them is used in this...Chimaera?" Damla's lips twitched. "That's an appropriate name, all things considered."
"The terrible beast of Greek mythology defeated by Bellerophon," added Clive, with a chuckle.
Lucas took Varinia's hand again, linking their fingers together this time. He enjoyed the way she faltered slightly in her reply.
"I think so, yes," she said.
Damla passed back Varinia's notebook and typed something into her mobile.
"Clive, if you'll provide the premises, we'll provide the missing linguists." She regarded Varinia with a small smile. "If you're willing to continue working on this, of course."
"I'm willing," the redhead affirmed.
"This will only work if we have open communication," advised Clive, giving each of them a measured glance. "MI6 with MI5 with MİT."
"Certainly," Damla acquiesced.
Although Varinia also agreed, Lucas felt her tense slightly beside him.
#
It was nearly three in the morning when Lucas and Varinia stumbled into the flat, shucking their shoes off haphazardly by the door. She collapsed onto the sofa, staring up at the ceiling.
"Oh, no you don't," Lucas said, standing above the linguist. "I am not sleeping here again."
"I won't fall asleep," she grumbled but closed her eyes anyway. They flew open with a yelp, as Lucas picked her up to carry her into her bedroom. "I have legs, you know."
"Yes, I know," he replied, his lips twitching in amusement. "A very fine pair, too."
She blushed and changed the subject. "Damla's pretty take-charge, don't you think?"
Lucas went along with the topic change, despite his temptation to tell...or show...Varinia what else he found alluring about her.
"Sort of reminds me of Ros," he remarked. He set her down carefully, watching as she adjusted her skirt. "But you held your own, too, especially when it came to Chimaera."
"Well, I have a bit of a head start with it," Varinia said. She rummaged through a drawer and pulled out a t-shirt and shorts. Lucas edged towards the door, but she made no move to undress yet. "I confess, though, that I was nervous about working with the other linguists."
Lucas sat down beside her on the bed. "I noticed," he said softly. "Why?"
She shrugged. "I guess it's because I don't have a degree in any of my languages."
"But you know more languages than they do."
"Yeah, but they're experts in them, aren't they." Varinia sighed, leaning her head against his shoulder. "I got over it, but at first, it's always a bit daunting."
Lucas didn't think before he kissed the top of her head. He froze, waiting for a reaction, but when none came, he said, "You handled it well, Varinia. I doubt anyone even noticed you were nervous."
"You did."
"Only because I felt you tense up."
As she snaked her hand beneath his, however, she was completely relaxed. Perhaps it was the softness of her skin or the warmth of her small body against his that prompted him to tilt up her chin and press his lips to hers. Varinia responded immediately, kissing him back willingly if a tad too gently. He didn't deepen it, content to merely feel for now.
When they broke apart, he gazed into her eyes, noticing not for the first time just how green they were. She stared back at him, confident, no blush staining her cheeks, and he kissed her again. This time, he did deepen it, sliding his tongue over her bottom lip until she granted it access. She tasted of mint and pomegranate chap stick, and he reveled in it. Her arms wrapped around his neck, while he tangled his hands in her hair, pulling her closer.
Lucas didn't think about Sarah or about Lushanka or even about the repercussions of their actions. Lowering Varinia onto the pillows, his only thought was her.