The little café they chose for breakfast offered Anna fast enough wifi to set up her laptop and get to work as John waited for their order. He watched her fingers fly over the keys and took the platter from the waitress when Anna was too involved in her typing to even notice the presence of food. It took John waving a plate in front of Anna's face to even get her to look up.

She blinked, removing her glasses, and raised her eyebrows. "Yes?"

"Hungry?"

"Starved. But," Anna held up a finger and finished typing something before hitting a key with finality and sighing. "Now I'm done."

"For now?"

"For now." Anna closed the lid and slipped her laptop carefully into her bag. "Shouldn't leave too much of a trail, even if the public wifi will leave it all a bit of mystery for whomever might be tracking the research."

"Proper spy you are."

"I had a good teacher." Anna winked at him and dug into her pancakes. "But I'm sure Ms. Forbes might be a little grateful she won't have to be me anymore."

"You think that being you is difficult?"

"I think what she'd have to pretend to do while pretending to be me is difficult." Anna motioned toward with her fork toward her laptop bag. "The research for this paper isn't… It's not the kind of thing that interests most people."

"Then what made you want to do it?" John cut into his waffles, pausing for a moment. "What made Anna Smith want to research all this?"

"I grew up on a farm where my parents raised a specific breed of sheep." Anna shrugged as she took a bite, "And I got into this program, because I grew up on a farm, that was supposed to be for future farmers but I had no interest in ever being a farmer."

"Didn't like sheep?"

"Didn't want to be on a farm." Anna chewed through another bite before speaking again. "But it got me interested in botany. And I started paying a bit more attention in biology. And, again, because I grew up on a farm and because I attended that first conference when I was in primary school, I got invited for another conference when I was in secondary school and while it was slightly less attached to farming it did tell me more about biological sciences."

"So you just fell in love with science at a conference?"

"I fell in love with the process of science. The conferences had very little to do with it except as a tool of instigation." Anna paused, her fork turning slowly over her food. "But I think I fell in love with an idea more than a thing. A concept more than an execution, if you get my meaning."

"Interesting way to look at it."

"It's… Imagine being in love with an idea but trying to explain that to people who relish in the nitty gritty of their profession." Anna tapped her fork against the plate. "It's one of the things that makes it a little difficult to get along with others in my field. They don't seem to understand why I do this if I'm in love with an idea over the actual application of it."

"Because you're not into the application of it?"

"Because I'm not in love with what I do. I like it, it enamors me sometimes, but mostly I just like the problem-solving aspect and that makes me a little less… Just less, I guess, to them."

"Because they're about the application?"

"Part of being a scientist is being interested in the inner workings of everything. You're supposed to want to get results now and apply everything now but I'm more interested in the dream." Anna sucked the insides of her cheeks for a second. "The dream of what I could do with what I do more than what's actually possible with what I do."

"Kinetic energy is always a little disappointing because it's never what the potential energy is." John shrugged as Anna made a face at him. "I do remember a little bit of the science from school."

"I'm impressed."

"Physics was always a little more impressive to me than Chemistry or Biology." John paused, "Outside of the basics of human anatomy, which I've greatly enjoyed in practical applications."

"Just male anatomy?" Anna stifled a laugh by chewing determined at her pancakes. "That must be fascinating."

"If you're not going to play fair, then I won't play." John took another bite, leaving Anna to quietly guffaw into her meal. "Besides, what other research do you have to do anyway? Hasn't that been what you've been typing away at for a month and half now?"

"There are two versions to this research." Anna held up a finger, using her other hand to continue eating. "One is the real research I intend to publish when all this is over. The other is the set of research that, to the untrained eye, looks identical. Whatever idiot Green hires to check the work won't see through it and he'll certify it. Green'll take the bait, publish the stuff, and then have it blow up in his face with enough time for Robert Crawley to toss his ass in jail."

"This is the dye pack in bank money then?"

"Of course it is." Anna sighed, "The hardest part is keeping the rest of the group in line. You wouldn't believe what they've all been saying since I told them the plan was to, potentially, sully our good names."

"Given you're all working for peanuts, I'd imagine your professional reputations are about all you've got left at this point."

"You make us sound like monks at a monastery."

"I know you're the kind of monk who builds a secret tunnel to the nearest nunnery." John winked at Anna, dodging the napkin she threw at him. "But my point is, you're taking a big risk trying to pull this off."

"If I don't then Green gets the actual research and we're all out three years, minimum, of hard work." Anna shook her head, "I won't have that. And our professional reputations'll be restored when it comes out who saved this entire operation through our contributions and why we made such a noble sacrifice."

"Think you'll get an offer for a better job?"

"Better than Cambridge?" Anna shook her head, "No, because there's not a better university out there. And even if I did manage to get a better offer, why in the world would I leave one of the best universities in the world to teach anywhere else? It's not like the students are any more interested in botanical sciences on the other side of the Pond than they are when they fall asleep in my lectures."

"You don't think there's some starving, bright-eyed student out there waiting desperately for you to teach them?"

"I think that determined people find what they want, it's not handed out."

"Like how you found what you wanted?"

Anna nodded, "A bit like that, yeah." She finished chewing and pushed her empty plate away. "If there's a student out there that wants to learn from me, they'll come where I am, not the other way around."

"You don't believe in chasing down the 'one'?"

"No. I believe the 'one' is a myth and trying to find them or figure out what they want is ridiculous. I don't believe in putting any stock in the mad notion that there's one student out there who'll change the world for me… It's a waste of time." Anna pushed herself into the back of the booth. "I've seen those professors and worked with more than a few of them. The ones just slogging it through, muddled and resentful that they've not got the one bright star just waiting to hitch themselves to so their wagon drives farther."

"You don't believe in that idea?"

"I already told you, I believe in a dream about what this work can do and not necessarily the reality." Anna shrugged, "If I'm waiting for a student to be my dream then what kind of dreamer am I?"

"The one confused about their reality." John checked his watch. "We've given them enough time to make a few inquiries and to see if there's anyone waiting for us. Since no one's pinged my phone I'd say the coast is clear."

"Unless they're all dead." Anna gathered her things and dug into her pocket for her wallet but John beat her to it. "I'm not destitute, you know. I do have the capacity to contribute monetarily to a life on the run."

"You're supposed to be reintegrating yourself into your life, not paying for a motorway meal." John grabbed his jacket and led Anna back to the car. "Ms. Forbes is a very reliable agent for us and she's very good at keeping notes so I'd imagine there are quite a few of them for you to read through."

"Notes? About my life as she's lived it?"

"And anything else that applies besides." John sighed, "She's… a bit of a perfectionist that attempts to control everything."

"You enjoy working with her?"

"Only ever professionally." John shook his head, "I've not got time for someone who wants to control every aspect of their life."

"And you've got time for a botanical scientist?"

"She's fascinating, a little disorientating, and far too intelligent for me but she's also adventurous, forgiving, and rather flexible in every instance we've attempted so far." John grinned at her, leaning over to kiss Anna before opening the door for her. "We've still got a few hours in the car yet, just to warn you."

"And I'll warn you, I'll fall asleep in the car."

"That's fair." John got in on his side, adjusting his seat until he readied the car to go. "But I'm not offended. I think you look beautiful in your sleep."

"I disagree but I'll accept that you're delusional because you're obsessed with me." Anna shrugged it off, giving John a little smile before getting comfortable.

"I will admit that I am delusional where you're concerned but I wouldn't consider myself obsessed with you."

"Let me guess," Anna raised a finger, her eyes already closed as she twisted toward the window. "You're passionate about me."

"I'm certainly passionate with you."

"Naughty boy."

"Not as long as you're asleep in the passenger seat." John put his hand on her seat, twisting to look behind him as he backed the car, but jerked on the pedal as Anna's hand landed on his thigh. "Unless you want to end up in a wreck-"

"Just testing your passion." Anna moved her hand back, laughing to herself as she made herself comfortable for sleep.

"You can test it later." John got them on the road, shaking his head. "And you think I'm the naughty one."

"I guess we'll settle that debate when we test it all later." Anna snuggled into the seat, "Wake me when we're near Cambridge. I'll have to actually get myself conscious before we stop at my flat."

"Caroline's planning in debriefing you at your office at the university."

"Yes, but I want to change before I do that. Travel always makes me feel grungy and I'd hate to face that version of female perfection feeling scummy."

"She's not female perfection."

"I'll thank you for saying it but you're lying through your teeth and we both know it." Anna sighed, "Not that I mind. Says a lot about how you see me if you legitimately thought she could pass for me."

"Not to toot my own horn but I do think she could pass for you because you're got similar bone structures and she looks like she's your taller cousin. Having said that," John held up a finger as he waited for the light to get back onto the moorway. "She's… I don't know how to explain it but Caroline's always had this way of convincing people to do what she wants. She's just…"

"Stunning?"

"No, it's more like she's hypnotic. Like the only thing you really want, in all the world, is to do exactly what she wants you to." John shuddered, "It's a little frightening and I'm glad that, as far as I know, she's never used whatever secret feminine power she's got on me."

"Far as you know?"

"Some of the people forget they even met her. It's like she wiped herself from their minds." John shrugged, "I don't know. I'm just glad she's on our side and she's as good at what she does as she is or I'd have to explain why I whisked you away to Scotland for a month and a half to a borderline psychopathic employer."

"The one who sent hired guns after us." Anna nodded, her eyes still closed. "Don't forget that part because he tracked us that far."

"Robert's still convinced they've got a loose mole in their division. They're working through trying to find out who it is but it's a crapshoot as to whether or not they actually dig someone out."

"Not comforting. Or very trusting of humanity."

"People are, by their nature, selfish. So even if they find out who leaked the meeting between Robert and I this time, they'll be some other person who needs or wants money or has some dirt that'll get dug up on them."

"What a world to believe in."

"It's the world I live in." John sighed, "But I'm not overly bothered by it."

"If you keep saying intriguing things, I'll never get any sleep."

"Maybe that's the point. I'll keep you intrigued so you stay awake."

"Monster." Anna covered her ears with her hands, "Save whatever other philosophical thoughts you've got until we're back near Cambridge."

"Yes ma'am."

John smiled to himself until he heard Anna's slow breathing from her side of the car. The drive took another few hours, John risking the radio to keep himself entertained when the hum of silence meshed too closely with the repetitive beat of his car over the road and tried to lure him into a doze, but eventually he reached a hand over to try and shake Anna awake. She grumbled and turned but John only shook her shoulder a little harder until she groaned her eyes open.

"Are we almost there?"

"Another quarter of an hour."

"Good." Anna stretched out before flopping in her seat. "I need a shower."

"I'm sure Ms. Forbes can wait long enough for you to get the shower you want." John smiled to himself, pausing when he noticed Anna's expression. "What?"

"Sometimes you call her 'Caroline' and sometimes you call her 'Ms. Forbes'."

"I feel like you're hiding a question in that statement."

"I was just curious when you call her one and the other."

"I hope your underlying worry is not that I've been lying to you this whole time and that I'm slipping up in my references because we actually had a thing once a long time ago."

"Did you?"

"Caroline Forbes is young enough to be my daughter. And I don't know about you but I tend to stay away from relationships where my presence could be construed as cradle-robbing."

"I'm younger than you."

"Yes, but you're also a tenured professor who's published a few papers. That proves you're not protected by law anymore and that we met after your established yourself professionally." John shook his head, pulling the car into the smaller streets that defined Cambridge. "If I even thought about dating Caroline Forbes I feel as if the police would arrest me on suspicion."

"So you've not dated her?"

"No. And any reference I have to her is strictly professional." John paused, parking the car along the pavement before turning to Anna. "Are you jealous of her?"

"Not in the way you think." Anna unbuckled her belt to turn sideways toward John. "She knows a different side of you. She's worked this kind of thing with you before and that's… That's a familiarity that breeds a comradery I don't know if we'll ever have. I'm jealous of that."

"It'll be stupid of me to say this but don't be jealous of what Caroline's known me to do." John covered one of Anna's hands with his. "It's different."

"That's my point."

"It's like if I were jealous of you working with any of the other researchers on your paper. They're your functional partners in something I could never manage to help you with. I'm not jealous of them."

"Shouldn't you be?"

"Not if I'm confident in what I've got to offer you." John kissed Anna's knuckles. "Whatever we've got, awkward and sudden and pumped with adrenaline as it is, it's ours and no one else's. What I've had with Caroline Forbes is strictly professional. She's helped me out of a few scrapes and been there to work angles on cases I couldn't handle. That's it. Done and dusted. It all ends with me making sure she's been paid and then we go our separate ways."

"That's not a great way to say that."

"Okay," John took a breath, "We're like contracted employees. Someone needs their kitchen redone and so they call an electrician, a plumber, a tiler, and someone with cabinet expertise. These people work together occasionally but mostly alone. Caroline, in this case, would be the interior decorator, and I'm just the man in charge of acquisitions. We shake hands at the beginning and at the end and don't see one another until there's another job that needs our combination of skills."

"You should've read English and the done something with it." Anna sighed, her fingers tightening around John's a moment. "You've a way with words."

"Are you still jealous?"

"Just that the person I know is… I don't know, I guess it's that we'll never really know one another since our relationship just sprang into being in the midst of a rather disastrous occasion."

"Maybe it did and maybe we've both conveniently forgot that we met at physical therapy." John went to release Anna's hand but she stopped him. "Did I forget something?"

"Just that I want to apologize for coming on as the jealous girlfriend out to ruin any relationships you've got with females who aren't me."

"Given the nature of our relationship, I think it's just a matter of time before I do the same thing to you."

"The only men I know are either my teaching assistants, lab techs, or other researchers. All of whom I'm already dated or can't… For various legal and ethical reasons I'm sure you understand."

"Completely." John jerked his thumb toward the building. "Do you want to go inside or do you want me to sweep it first?"

"I think we'll sweep it together, in a few minutes." Anna bent slightly to look at the rear seat. "Not as cozy as I'd like but it'll do."

"Do for what?"

"So I can do you."

John coughed, "It's broad daylight and we're parked on the side of the blinking street, Anna."

"I know exactly what it is and where we are." Anna shrugged, "We'd just have to be quick about it."

"And lose the romance?"

"For someone upset that I'm suggesting we do it in a car in the first place-"

"I've greatly enjoyed every opportunity I've had to ravish you but this…" John shook his head. "If it were dark, maybe. But in broad daylight and under the watch of your flat which may, I'll remind you, house nefarious individuals scoping the street… No. I won't go for it."

"Rain check?"

"On a darker night, on a dark street, and in an area we know isn't being watched absolutely." John paused, "Is this your form of apology for hinting about being jealous that I've a professional relationship with Caroline?"

"Is this the wrong way to apologize?"

"It's…" John sighed, "As I said, we've got a lot of kinks to work out with whatever we think we've got with one another. This is just a simple disagreement and whatever apology you wanted to make, you already made."

"Then we're good?"

John frowned, "Is there another way for me to say it?"

"It's… We've…" Anna stopped, closing her eyes before letting out a sigh. "What we have, John, isn't really defined. That's what made me a little jealous about your relationship with Caroline because you know what that is. You know how to define it and categorize it and we've not got that."

"Do you want that?"

"I'd like to know that the month and a half I spent shacked up with you in Scotland wasn't just a lark that, once we've figured out how to get the scorpion off our back, fades into nothing."

"Is that what you think might happen?"

"It's what I fear might happen." Anna sighed, "You're right, we met outside Gwen's physical therapy offices but that was coincidence. As was our meeting on the train and no matter the chemistry and fun we had in those circumstances, you came to Cambridge and told me that you're continued interest in my life was because of Alex Green and that…"

She let out a breath, "That's not comforting John. It's not the foundation for anything permanent."

"I'm glad you didn't say it wasn't real."

"It's very real. Just… Just not what I want to call this."

John chewed the inside of his cheek before speaking, "When I came to Cambridge, it was at your invitation. The unfortunate reality of the change in our status at the time didn't make me want to visit you any less." He reached for Anna's hand. "The job being about you, to me, was a coincidence. Unfortunate and almost deadly but a coincidence."

"We'll have to face the fact that we're in an odd position."

"I think we already have." John grabbed his cane. "And we've got places to be. So we can sort out what we are and if we've got something we want to keep once we've actually got something other than this."

"You're not a fan of 'this'?"

"I'd like to make sure we're both going to survive whatever fresh hell awaits before we finish this and then decide if we can make a different 'this'." John extended his other hand to Anna. "Willing to see if we can get through this?"

"We need a better antecedent." Anna took his hand. "Lead on."

John kissed Anna's hand and left the car. Crossing to her side, John opened the door and offered her his hand. "If you'd like."

"If you've got any idea that I won't want to continue whatever weird relationship we've got, then you don't know you very well."

"What's that mean? And why would you think that I wouldn't want to try and see what kind of relationship we have?"

"It means you're charming and you should remember that I'm interested in seeing where this could go when we're not running for our lives."

"I'm all for that."

They left the car, taking the stairs to Anna's flat, and John tapped on the door. It did not move and when he bent to the check the lock a taped piece of hair remained in place near the lock. With a nod, John stepped to the side and Anna unlocked the door.

"Neat little trick."

"It's the basics." John entered after Anna and they split to check different parts of her flat. After a moment they confirmed no one else was there and John sat down on the sofa. "I do believe the shower's yours… Unless you think anyone else showered in there in the interim."

"I already saw that your friend bought me entirely new beauty products." Anna made a face, "Do you want to see what she got me?"

"Would I notice a difference when I buy men's products and that means I buy one all-purpose bottle?"

"Liar. I saw your bathroom in Scotland." Anna led the way and John followed her to the cramped little bathroom with the tiny vanity counter and a glass-walled shower. She stepped to the side to allow him in first. "But look, she's put perfume in here as well as an entire wash routine with numbers."

"I wonder if she's taking any of this with her when she goes?" John inspected some of the items in the medicine cabinet and the shower. "Do you think-"

He stopped when he turned and Anna was not sharing the space with him. "Anna? Anna did you…"

Whatever words John had next fled the moment Anna reappeared at the bathroom door, wearing vibrantly red lingerie. She leaned on the door and John tried to put his jaw back in place. After a moment he finally managed words but when he attempted to speak Anna put a finger over his lips.

"I don't think that's necessary."

"Is this still an apology?"

"This is a gift left for me by your co-worker." Anna held up a card, with impeccable handwriting on it. "She's got a few different ones for me."

"She does?"

"Yes." Anna placed the card in the space between the mirror and its wooden frame. "But I don't think she got my size right."

"No?"

"No." Anna shook her head as she lifted herself onto the counter. "It's a bit tight in a few places."

"I wouldn't know about-"

"Help me get them off?"

"I would… Yes." John nodded, leaning his cane against the door as he stepped forward to help Anna out of the bra. "When… You didn't change into these like Superman or anything did you?"

"I found them waiting for me when we did a sweep of the flat." Anna sighed as John unlatched the hooks on her bra and let it fall down her arms before catching it. "Changed then but took my clothes off when I cornered you in my bathroom."

"You're faster than I'd be." John's fingers traced along the edge of the knickers. "Do they all look like this, just in different colors?"

"Oh no," Anna's arms looped around John's shoulders. "They're in a few various of designs and styles. There's one with crotchless knickers."

"You opted against those?"

"I think she got a range because she's not sure if we're the kinky type."

"And are we the kinky type?"

"Not right now we're not." Anna pressed onto John's shoulders to bring her ass off the counter to give John a second to get the elastic off her legs before she brought him closer with the same leg. "I think we're going to be relatively traditional… If you don't mind."

"I don't mind." John let his hands run over Anna's legs before questing one between them to run his fingers through her already slick lips. "You don't either."

"You're just that attractive."

"Thank you." John used his other hand to encourage Anna to the edge of the counter and jerked against it as she opened his belt and put her hand down his trousers. "I'm sure in a second you'll find-"

"That you find me attractive too?" Anna leaned forward, kissing along John's neck as she opened his trousers and shoved any obstructions out of the way to leave him open to the questing of her hands. "I already knew that."

"Tease."

"I promised you, in the car, that I'd investigate later."

"Naughty girl." John shifted their positions slightly to better lean down and kiss her. Anna purred into the kiss, which only encouraged John further, and his fingers sought deeper inside her. That triggered a roll to Anna's hips and her hands left him to catch his wrist. "Do you-"

"No time." Anna tugged his hands free before putting hers on John's neck to drag his mouth to hers to kiss. "Now please."

John slid his hands to her hips and aligned them to enter Anna in a thrust. Her nails dug into his neck and John clenched his teeth as he took a moment to maneuver and drive forward again, better seating himself inside Anna. It allowed him a reprieve from her fingers as they quivered against his skin but once Anna rocked against him, her legs tightening at his hips as her ankles crossed under his ass, John gave over to the pain to seek out their mutual pleasure.

With Anna almost clawing at him and the image of her still wearing the red get-up Caroline left for her, John buried his head at Anna's shoulder and drove into her. There was no finesse, and a twinge in his leg signaled a need to keep it all as quick as possible before he landed them both on the floor, but an increase in speed proved almost enough to strike where they both needed him to. And what John could not accomplish through speed and brute force, he managed with agility.

The flex of his fingers, working in concert with sloppy kisses from his mouth, brought Anna screeching toward her end. She came, her body tensing like a spring, as John's tongue left her breast and left her cry on John's skin. The final rake of her nails on his shoulders cued John to follow and he only bruised himself slightly against the counter as he did.

Their breathing syncopated for a few moments, sweat beading on their skin in the tight confines of the bathroom, as John pulled away. His hands slipped but he managed to shove the tiny window open enough to let in a blast of frigid air. It swept through the bathroom and had them both sighing in relief until Anna shivered and John fumbled to close it again.

"Sorry."

"You saw a problem and solved it." Anna leaned back, catching herself on her hands before she could hit the mirror. "I'll make a note about the lingerie."

"It's nice but not strictly necessary."

"It's true." Anna slid gingerly off the counter, walking to the shower to turn it on before leaving the window cracked just slightly. "I once seduced you just wearing a robe in a hotel room."

"Again, it wasn't the accouterments that got me." John caught Anna's hand and pressed a kiss to her palm. "Whatever happens, if we both make it out of this shitshow alive, I want to try this all again."

"Again?"

"As in, from scratch." John pointed at the shower, "Do you mind if I join you?"

"It'll be a tight fit."

"I'm used to that."

Anna raised a warning finger, "I'll warn you, keep making suggestions like that and you'll find out exactly how horny I am."

"All the time or just recently?"

"Not sure. It could just be you." Anna checked the water, "But you're welcome to join me if you're up for it."

"I could get up for it." John removed his clothing as quickly as he could, mindful of the tremble in his leg, before entering the shower. "You were right about the fit in here."

"Usually I'm not bringing in guests." Anna managed to maneuver them about, getting both soaked enough to start soaping down. "And the water goes cold pretty quickly so I'll have to be fast."

"I can be fast."

"If you're going to make a competition of it," Anna put her hand between them catching John off guard so his hand hit the glass wall hard enough to leave it vibrating. "Then I guess it's first to the finish."

"You're ready again already?"

"I wasn't kidding about being horny all the time." Anna glanced around them for a minute before turning the water off. "Give us enough to rinse in a minute."

"Rinse?"

"That's right." Anna went to her knees and John's other hand went to the wall as well when Anna wrapped her mouth around him.

"Anna you-"

John's fingers dug into the liner of the glass, the rubberized protection at the top of the inserted cube putting grooves in his hands as he hung on for dear life. The tremor in his leg only increased and he adjusted position to try and keep his weight off it. It slipped their position for a moment and had Anna moving back.

"We can't… I've got…" John could barely think, much less speak, and Anna stood between him and the shower wall.

Her eyes flicked to his leg and then she went on her tiptoes to kiss him. The distraction only lasted a second before she turned, putting her back to him. "Make it quick then?"

It took everything John had to do just that. Between his leg shaking, the still drying shower floor, and the soap still sticking to their skin it was a miracle either of them finished before falling through the glass walls of the shower or landing on their collective asses. But they managed it and Anna got them rinsed off before they escaped the tiny confines of the shower for the towels.

"Remind me to tell Caroline how well her gifts worked." Anna worked her way around John, taking the lingerie with her. "Although I will need to tell her my size if she ever wants to try it again."

"I'd rather she not know that it worked." John rubbed himself down. "This was supposed to be a quick trip on our way to meet her."

"I'm sure she'd understand."

"I'm sure she would too but I don't want to face her every time we work together in the future and have her giving me any kind of smug grin about it." John rested on the closed toilet seat, waiting for his leg to settle. "It's a professional courtesy, if you please."

"Fine." Anna leaned into the bathroom to look at him. "Then I'll just tell her in private later. Women to women."

"That won't stop her."

"Sure it will." Anna shrugged, "I'm sure she's discreet."