The New Avengers in Canada

Disclaimer: I don't own The New Avengers, nor the characters of Mike Gambit, Purdey, and John Steed. They're the property of The Avengers (Film and TV) Enterprises. This story is written for entertainment purposes only. No copyright infringement intended.

Timeline: Takes place during the final four episodes of the series-Complex, The Gladiators, Emily, and Forward Base-which were filmed in Canada, mainly in Toronto.


There was a strange paradox about Purdey that Gambit had noticed many times during their time together. Well, there were several, really, if he was being honest. Purdey herself was a paradox, wrapped in an enigma, sometimes with a dash of mystery on the side depending on her mood. But the particular quandary he was wrestling with was her attitude toward physical contact. Putting a hand where it wasn't wanted was an easy way to get one's back broken in three places where Purdey was concerned. Their easy familiarity meant that Gambit was exempted from that harsh treatment, but Gambit's attempts to initiate any kind of physical contact had always ended in a swift dodge or a quick withdrawal, and Gambit's respect for her wishes meant he never pushed or pursued her further. But when it came to Purdey herself, there was a very different philosophy at work. She had a tendency to get "handsy" with him when it suited her. Sometimes it made sense—taking his arm in the sewers when the magnitude of what they were dealing with finally registered with her, or hugging the same on an evening out in Paris when the world seemed momentarily at rights and there was nothing to concern them but mirth and bright lights. But the more meaningful instances were when she did it automatically, unconsciously, expressing an innate comfort with and, dare he think it, affection for, him. The way she'd tugged on his tie after that episode with the doubles for one, or the way her hands always seemed to be pressing against his arm or back as they fled the 19th special commando. She'd done it again, here in Canada, as they fled the roaring flames of the blazing Emily, although this time it was his hip that came in for the treatment. He might not have thought much about it if it had been only that: a sign of the ease with which they operated as a partnership.

But there had been another, rather interesting occurrence, just a few weeks earlier, when they were investigating Colonel Sminsky's so-called "gladiators." Stopping by a shop where one of the locals had tangled with a Sminsky recruit—and paid the price—Gambit found himself on the wrong end of an understandably jumpy Canadian police officer when he reached for his ID. The fact that Purdey volunteered to extract it from his back pocket was probably innocuous in itself—a means of preventing an international incident. But it was when she put it back that things seemed rather…prolonged. Because in returning the billfold to his rear pocket, she had placed one hand quite firmly on his derriere to pull the pocket open, and then proceeded to slide, and slide, and slide the wallet deeper into the pocket's recesses, her hand following it as it went. All told, her hand moved up and down inside his pocket more times than he could count while he carried on his conversation with the policeman. Either Purdey was very, very concerned about his ID falling out of his pocket, or she was rather enjoying herself.

Gambit still wasn't completely sure which it was, or, more importantly, what it meant. Purdey could be maddeningly circumspect about these things at the best of times, let alone if she was directly asked. It might have meant nothing. But then again, it might have meant something, a discreet signal that she was open to more than friendship. Gambit desperately wanted to ask her, but he was afraid to get his hopes up, didn't know if he could take having them dashed on the rocks yet again. His poor heart could only take so much battering. And yet, the sensation of Purdey's fingers sliding into his back pocket had stuck in his mind. Sitting across the table from him while they waited for lunch, Purdey looked up from perusing a case file and regarded him quizzically. "Gambit, what is it?"

"I wish I knew," Gambit responded cryptically, wondering whether it was worth potentially losing his wallet by leaving it on the table, just to see if she'd do it again.