Sweeping the room with his eyes, John kept himself at Anna's elbow as she listened to the man rambling in heavily accented English with a mask of vague interest. He eye-checked with Shaw and Myers across the room, both in graceful dresses that hid any trace of a weapon on them, and they responded with neutral signals. An inhale from Anna had John putting a hand on her elbow and whispering in her ear.

"The room's clear."

"You're sure?" Anna's voice caught the other man, still speaking as if John were merely a piece of the statuary brought in for the occasion, off-guard. "Then I guess we'd better make our way over there."

"Excuse-"

"Yes, I'm so sorry and I must beg your forgiveness." Anna put her hand on the other man's so he now held her drink. "It appears I must go."

"But-"

John helped sweep Anna away from him and into the crowd. "We're clear."

"Thank goodness." Anna snagged another drink from a passing waiter. "I thought I might die of boredom standing straight."

"I only heard half of what he said but I feel I can sympathize."

"I listened to all of what he said and less than half of it was even relevant to what we're doing at this conference." Anna finished her drink and handed it off. "It's why I hate these things. They're a waste of time for what we really need to be doing."

"Like the gala?"

"Similar but…" Anna shrugged, "It's different but not quite. These people are the 'experts' in their field so they think they're entitled to what they do and the money they get. People like the ones at the gala are the those who hate themselves for being rich and yet want to do as little as possible to actually give up that wealth."

"Better to hate that you're uncomfortably rich than risk being uncomfortably poor?"

"Exactly." Anna shook her head, leaving her hair fluffing on her shoulders. "But these are the devils with whom you make deals if you want to do good in the world."

"Not usually you though, is it?" When Anna raised an eyebrow at him John quirked a smile. "Make those deals with the devil."

"No, not usually me." Anna gave a sigh. "But that's the risk you run, isn't it? Sometimes your 'monster' can't do your bidding for you so you've got to face the reality that they've been doing the dirty work for you."

"So Mrs. Crawley's your Batman and you're… who, exactly?"

"I'd like to think I'm Commissioner Gordon but I guess I've no idea who I am in that scenario." She let out another little snort. "Graphic novels were always more Auggie's field than mine but I've caught a few of the movies. Not enough to speak intelligently about them but just enough to sound like I know what I'm saying."

"I was into them when I was a kid but that was an entirely different age." John made a face, "They've gone… What is the word… Mainstream?"

"I guess." Anna almost reached for another glass but stopped. "What the hell?"

John followed her gaze, catching neutral nods from both Myers and Shaw again, and saw a woman in a formal Army uniform. "Friend of yours?"

"I wouldn't call her that, no."

"Enemy?"

"I wouldn't quite say that either." Anna rolled her shoulders back, letting her hair fall back again while also billowing her dress out slightly. In a moment it was almost as if the blue of her dress darkened even further. "And I'd like to warn you about her."

"Warn me?" John frowned and noted the woman approaching them. "Why?"

"Because she's… Much." Anna straightened as the woman came within steps of them. "Don't let her get to you. She'll try to get to you but you can't let her get inside your head."

"I'll…" John stopped as the woman reached them.

"Anna, it's been awhile since I've seen you." She extended her hand and Anna took it but dropped it almost as quickly.

"Yes, it has been awhile." Anna swallowed before extending a hand toward John. "This is Mr. Bates, my bodyguard, courtesy of Branson Personal Security."

"You need security these days?" The woman snorted a laugh, letting go of John's hand almost as quickly as she took it. "I didn't think you needed protection in a job where you're just touring grand hotels."

"That's not all I do in my job, you know that." A muscle tweaked in the back of Anna's jaw and John tightened his fingers around his wrist to stop himself moving toward her. "Mr. Bates, I apologize but I failed to introduce my mother, General Sharon Smith."

"Manners, Anna." The General tutted at Anna before taking a glass from a passing waiter. "If you didn't learn them from me then you should've learned them in the service… Even for as short a time as you spent in the service."

"I apologize for my momentary distraction, General." Anna rolled her shoulders back again and the smile on her face stretched. "I find myself a little curious as to why you're at a conference like this one."

"I've recently found myself thinking about retirement."

"You're retiring?"

"You sound surprised by that." The General gave a smile, sipping at her drink. "Do I not strike you as someone who'd like to retire one day?"

"Honestly I was convinced they'd need to drag you out of the office." Anna's jaw tightened. "Or that you'd simply die in uniform."

"I might still do." The General smiled at them and finished her drink before handing it off to a waiter. "Unlike either of you, it would seem."

"Pardon?" John risked a momentary glance at Anna before reaffirming the neutral signal from Shaw and Myers. "I'm not sure I understand."

"As lovely as having Anna introduce you to me, I'd already looked you up." The General smiled at John and he barely stopped himself grimacing at the sight of it. "I keep up on the status of my daughter. I know who's… got their claws into her and her business."

"Then I'll assume you've had access to my portfolio and background in its entirety." John clasped his hands behind his back to hold them out of sight. "I wonder what you would think of me beyond the files you've read."

"What I think about you is as irrelevant as you are, Mr. Bates." The General let out a breath. "And you can let your two models impersonating as security know I feel the same where they're concerned."

"They're not impersonating." John nodded toward them, "They're the muscle."

"I'm sure you must think that's hilarious in other circles." The General nodded at both of them. "Thankfully, I'm not in any of those circles."

"I'd prefer you speak respectfully to my employees, General."

"I'm sure you would prefer that but I treat subordinates as subordinates should be treated." The General nodded to both of them. "Have a good evening."

John watched her go and nodded at Shaw. Shaw raised an eyebrow, finished her glass, and trailed the General out the door. With her gone, John pivoted toward Anna. "Are you alright?"

"Better than I expected, actually." Anna let out a breath, "Usually it gets worse when she goes into detail about my brief stint in the service or keeps detailing how the job I do is 'cushy' and 'ridiculously spoiled' or something like that."

"Every time?"

"It's one of the reasons I only see my mother at necessary social functions." Anna ground her teeth. "And that's more of a recent development."

"Given what you've told me about your…" John coughed, "About the General, I can understand why you'd never want to see her again under any circumstances."

"And I thought, after Emma's death, we never would again." Anna shook her head, "Peter and I swore, on Emma's grave, that we'd never go out of our way to make contact with the General. She'd have no more involvement in our lives but then…"

John frowned, "Then what?"

"Then Auggie got good at football and showed some promise with boxing and the General showed up again." Anna gave a snorting laugh. "The irony of it all was that she didn't think much of Peter to begin with. The General thought he was middling, in all respects, and was always one step short of racist with him. Didn't even go to their wedding."

"She does strike me as one devoted to convenience and…" John winced, "Extraordinary pragmatism."

"That's the General to a T." Anna closed her eyes, letting out a breath. "I think I've socialized enough for the evening and I'm ready to go to bed."

"Whatever you say Ms. Smith." John guided her out of the room, checking quickly with Myers before leaving the room. "But it's a shame."

"Why's that?" Anna hit the button for the lift before turning to face John. "You want to meet the General again?"

"As charming as meeting your mother was, no." John gave Anna a smile. "They promised dancing later."

"In your bulletproof vest?"

"I wore this tux for a reason." John followed Anna into the lift. "And it wasn't to try and impress your mother."

"She's not worth impressing."

"I noticed." John managed the button for their floor. "But I wasn't interested in impressing her, was I?"

"Mr. Bates," Anna clicked her tongue at him, "Someone might think you've got an unprofessional interest in me."

"Maybe I do." The doors opened and John's smile dropped at the sight of Shaw with her expressionless face turned slightly toward a frown. "Ms. Shaw?"

"Your lady in uniform had a meeting with a man at the bar."

"A man?"

"That's what I said." Shaw rolled her eyes. "It's like you don't think I know how to do my job properly."

"It's not that."

"Good, because I kept eyes on both of them until they separated to their individual rooms. I do hope you didn't want me waiting to see if they had sex or something."

"No, it was good work." John stepped to the side. "Anything else about the man she met with at the bar?"

Shaw shrugged, "I've got his face and I'll run a scan for it. If I have to I'll get into building security to get his picture. It's not hard."

"I didn't say-"

"I'm wondering what kind of idiots you usually work with on this side on of the Atlantic." Shaw shook her head, walking back to her room. "And I'm taking tomorrow morning off so Myers can have it."

"I'll let her know." John made a face as Shaw walked away. "I think she's the oddest person I've ever worked with."

"She reminds me of Shand."

"Shand had personality. Shaw's…" John puffed his cheeks to blow out a stream of air. "It's like she doesn't even have emotions."

"Maybe her emotions are just… turned down." Anna made a face, "I knew someone like that once. He served with me for a bit and he had emotions but they were just buried really deep. Like he couldn't quite bring himself to dredge them up."

"Maybe it's a personality disorder." John opened the door to their room. "But she's competent and that's all that really matters I think."

"She seems to share your sentiments." Anna relaxed on the bed, sitting on the edge and kicking off her shoes. "And that's all I need to know about her. Although I do wonder where Branson finds these badass women."

"There's probably a website for women people don't take seriously unless there's a gun in her hand." John relaxed back on the sofa, eyeing Anna. "Will your mother being here cause any problems?"

"First off," Anna held up a finger, "Please don't call her my mother. Biology aside, she's the General first and she's never been maternal enough to be considered a mother, mine or anyone else's."

"Alright, the General won't be causing a problem to anyone, will she?"

"That brings me to number two," Anna laid back on the bed. "I refuse to let her get in the way of this. Whatever reason she's here, for whatever purpose she's devised, I intend to not let her ruin this. I've grown beyond her and whatever influence she used to exert like a sledgehammer over my life."

"Then you've no idea what she's doing here?"

"I'm determined to not think about her about all." Anna sat up again. "Although I will be intensely curious as to who she met at the bar."

"Why?"

"The General is a legendary teetotaler." Anna stood up, "It's actually kind of a pity."

"What is?" John's brow furrowed as Anna walked toward the bathroom.

"There wasn't dinner." Anna leaned in the doorway, "Then you might've had an excuse to take this dress off me yourself."

"If you're asking for help…" John stood, stalking slowly to Anna's position as she mimed struggling with her zipper. "I could be of assistance."

"Why else would I have a big, strong man in my room?"

"There might be a few reasons."

"I've only got one right now." Anna teased but the air left her body the second John shifted her position so the wall was at her back and his lips were on hers. The little hum of satisfaction vibrated over his lips until he pulled back. "I guess that's a valid reason to have you in here as well."

"I can think of a few other reasons." John bit at his lip, "But I've insisted on dinner before I proceed with some of those."

"Yes you did and…" Anna paused, "What do you mean by 'some of those'?"

"Would you like to find out?"

"I'd like to very much, yes." Anna's fingers curled in John's suit jacket only a second before he shuffled out of it and hung it on a peg in the closet just to the side of her. She huffed, "Taking away my advantages?"

"Whenever I can." John whispered, leaning forward to run his lips down the line of Anna's jaw. "I'd hate for you to get too far ahead."

"And why's that?"

John did not answer with words. Instead he brought their mouths together again, joining and breaking at irregular intervals to leave Anna whining a bit whenever he broke away before she was ready. Each time she did her fingers curled in his shirt, leaving wrinkles he never wanted to iron out as they gave Anna the leverage she needed to try and guide their kisses. And he allowed her the illusion of control there as his hands swept gently over the satin material of her dress.

Each sweep left her sighing into their kisses and then the air as John escaped the search of her lips to allow his a chance to follow the contours of her throat and collar bones. One of her hands abandoned her hold on his shirt so her fingers could spear in his hair and, with increasingly insistent grazes of her nails, guide the direction of his lips over her skin. Urges that John followed as his fingers graced lower and lower to slowly, almost imperceptibly, hitch up Anna's dress.

When he finally touched her skin, Anna gasped out and John hissed against the dig of nails at the back of his neck. It did not stop him as his fingers drew nonsense lines on her skin while tracing higher and higher toward her hips. Even there he only held a moment, repositioning them with a brief shuffle of their feet and the scrape of her dress against the wallpaper, before surprising Anna with a kiss that teased his tongue toward her mouth. A kiss onto which Anna latched to hold John to her while her hands held along his jaw to keep him firmly to her.

John relished it. Basked in the exchange between them as Anna guided and demanded with her kiss while he continued to memorize her skin without seeing it under her dress. Skin he traced and followed as his fingers grazed the edge of her knickers. A motion that brought pause to Anna's motions and guided John to break their kiss and draw back just enough to see Anna's face.

Their eyes met and John refused to look away as his fingers traced lower, following the edge of the stitching when Anna's legs parted enough to give his hand room. Room enough for his fingers to glide across the material and pause where it dampened. Dampened enough for John to drag the material back as his hand returned and Anna's breath hitched.

"Would you like me to wait for dinner?"

"Dinner?"

"Before we go on, do you want dinner?" John closed the distance between them, the weight of his body pressing Anna against the wall and her hands raised almost in a flurry to hold tightly to his biceps through his shirt. "Or do you want me to continue?"

"I believe you promised me 'some of those'." Anna risked a smile. "I'd hate to think you're a liar now, Mr. Bates."

"I'm many things," John held at Anna's hip with one hand while the other continued to run his fingers over her through her knickers. "But a liar isn't one of them."

"Then please don't make me wait any longer." Anna's hand shifted and while one welded itself to his shoulder the other clapped at the back of John's neck and brought him forward into another kiss. One she controlled with all the finesse and skill of someone trying to incite a reaction in their partner.

Which was exactly what she achieved when John's fingers moved her knickers out of the way so his fingers could sink deeply inside her. It broke the kiss for a moment, so Anna could cry out, but she forced them together again with her iron grip at his shoulder and the back of his neck. John obliged her, his fingers finding the rhythm Anna wanted through the lead she gave in their kiss, in the way one of her legs raised to wrap around his hip to send his fingers deeper, and in the little half-whispered instructions she managed with the hurried breaths she forced between their kisses.

John listened to all of them. To each instruction she gave as his fingers traced and followed the contours of her vaginal walls while trying to bring Anna out of her herself. And given the indentations he would carry for days on his neck and shoulder, John's optimism was not misplaced. An optimism that had his thumb tracing and circling the exposed bundle of nerves that left Anna keening and grinding against him as she used the leverage of her shoulders against the wall to change their angle. And when his fingers sank even deeper, widened her further, John swept his tongue into Anna's mouth as she came.

Her body trembled and quivered in his hold as his fingers slowed their exploration, withdrawing tentatively as he sought to soothe her motions until Anna's leg slipped almost half-heartedly off his hip. A tiny thud sounded as Anna leaned back against the wall, her muscles giving spasms as she struggled to remain standing in her high heels, and John waited a moment longer before withdrawing. With his free hand holding her dress to one hip, John removed his hand and brought his fingers to his mouth. Anna watched through hazed eyes as he sucked each finger individually before smiling at her.

"I don't think it's enough."

"What?" Anna barely had time to gauge the reaction before her fingers found new places to hold in his hair and John had one of her trembling legs, not the one that earlier occupied a place at his hip, over his shoulder and the gusset of her knickers pulled aside so his tongue and lips could form themselves over her folds.

He only paused a second, long enough to bring her knickers down her legs to leave his access unfettered, before returning with full vigor to his labors. Labors that, with the earlier orgasm already ebbing its way from her body proved strong enough to coax Anna toward another climax. One signaled in its growing influence by the depth of crescent shaped ridges her nails left on his scalp as his fingers and tongue worked to rile Anna into a frenzy while winding her tighter and tighter until she final finished.

The heaving of her breaths lifted her entire body from the wall with each motion and John moved even more gingerly than before to ensure Anna would not slump to the ground when he moved from under her. His body proved a firm foundation for her and he continued to hold onto the parts of her he could as he rose to his feet. With delicate fingers tracing her skin and brushing back the strands of her hair that stuck to skin shining from the evidence of their exertions, John waited for anna to open her eyes.

"Are you alright, Ms. Smith?"

"I do not believe there is a word in the English language I know to encompass how I feel at this very moment." Anna smiled and opened her eyes, "But 'alright' wouldn't be one I'd choose, no. It's far too small a word."

"Then I'll take it as success."

"I think you deserve to." Anna's finger traced his lips, "And you deserve that smile."

"I do take pride in my work, Ms. Smith."

"All the better for me." Anna's finger paused, tapping on John's bottom lip before drawing back. "And you were worried that I'd get ahead of you."

"You'll always be ahead of me, Ms. Smith." John dipped his head to kiss under Anna's jaw. "Because I could do that to you all day with very little change in the reaction."

"And you don't want the same?"

"Want and 'have the capacity to repeat' are two different things, Ms. Smith."

"Even after that, you still won't call me 'Anna'?" She snorted a laugh that John almost echoed until one of her hands dragged at the waistband of his trousers to bring them together again and the other cupped the evidence of his arousal through the material. "What do I have to do so I can elicit the reaction I want?"

"If you continue-"

"We've not had dinner and so I know this won't go where I'm desperate for it to, however," Anna opened John's trousers and had her hand wrapped around his skin as soon as she could shove his pants and trousers out of the way. "I believe in playing fair."

"It's not necessary-"

"Because you'd handle this yourself with willpower or a cold shower?" Anna shook her head, refusing to break John's gaze as she angled her wrist to slide her tight grip from root to tip and back again. "No, I'd rather you react now. I want to watch you."

"I don't-"

"Do you think about me when you do this John?" Anna leaned forward, echoing his earlier kisses as she traced his jaw with delicate lips. "Because I think about you. I could never have imagined how good it would be in reality but… Fantasy's not everything."

"No, it's not." John gritted his teeth and one of his hands went to the wall beside Anna to try and give himself stability as her hand continued.

"I wonder if you've fantasized about this."

Anna went to her knees and John almost went weak in his at the sight of it. He forced himself to stare at the wall, his knuckles going white as his fingers tried to dig into the wallpaper in time with the way Anna's tongue traced and tasted over him. And when she swallowed him down he could not stop the spearing of his fingers in her hair.

It took all of his self-control not to buck his hips wildly into her kisses and caresses while he kept the stroke of his fingers as light as possible despite the consistent swallow Anna used on him. Her deep sucks and taunting strokes of her tongue made him feel as if she could not decide between licking an ice cream cone or sucking at a lollipop. Whichever dessert she chose in the end hardly mattered as, when he tried to move away at the verge of his climax, her nails dug entirely new divots into the flesh of his ass to keep him close to her until he finished.

The bones in his legs had the consistency of gelatin and John's forehead stuck to the wall as he tried to fill his empty chest with air. Final kisses and gentle strokes of his skin left him shivering through the tail end of his climax as Anna stood next to him. Tracing her mouth with her fingers, as if to ensure all evidence vanished, she smiled at him before sucking her fingers dry.

"I believe I'm only sated on the appetizer, Mister Bates."

John tried to speak, clearing his throat twice before he managed it. "I do hope you enjoyed the appetizer all the same."

"Very much so." Anna eyed him from head to toe. "I do so look forward to the entrée."

"I…" John nodded, "Yes, Ms. Smith."

"You are persistent." Anna reached back, unzipping her dress to let it fall to the floor, and stepped clear with a careful lift of her feet in her high heels.

"I'm…" John cleared his throat as he tried to focus on Anna's face and not the fact that her bra was the only thing she wore now. "Professional."

"Well then, as a professional, I can only hope you finally say my name when we're actually had dinner." Anna unclipped her bra and held it a second before it too joined her dress on the floor. John's already dry mouth lost any hope of moisture at the sight of Anna in nothing but her nigh heels. "It'll be a shame otherwise."

"A crying shame." John nodded, unable to look away until Anna closed the door to the bathroom and left him to slump to the floor in a heap of tussled clothing.

He tried to restore himself, covering up with a towel as he hung up his tuxedo and her dress before they became victims of their discovery session, but it was almost too little too late. And the thought of Anna showering in the next room proved enough of a temptation that, despite the climax she gave him minutes ago, John had the coldest shower he could remember outside the Army. Even that only left him trying to muffle himself in the spray of the shower as the image of Anna, standing before him, burned deep in his eyes and left him empty for the second time that night as he climaxed in the shower.

Even worse, perhaps, was seeing Anna reading on the bed as he exited the bathroom. Clothed and otherwise unperturbed, she spared him a glance and shook her head. John paused, frowning, and swallowed before speaking. "Yes, Ms. Smith?"

"You could've let me help instead of wasting it in the shower."

"I-" John tried to speak as Anna closed her book.

"It's just a shame to waste it." Anna shrugged and reached over to turn off the light next to her bed. "Sleep well John. I know I will."

It made the next day of meetings and conference sessions a living hell.

Despite the inherent professionalism of Anna and the necessity of staying apart from her, in the small moments they had to share with one another they spared no expense in indicating the level of tension rising in each of them. John noted each time Anna's pen scrawled half-thought messages to him before crossing them out as she took dutiful notes from other speakers. Or the times their fingers almost touched, any whispers about innocuous things like updates from Shaw or Myers, and when they stood close to one another and the temperature in the room seemed to rise in proportion to the distance they closed between them.

But they kept themselves apart.

Kept professional as Anna prepared her address in the room while John waited outside it until she cracked the door to signal to him. John rose off the chair, ignoring the roll of Shaw's eyes as she returned to her room, and entered the room to follow Anna to the desk.

"All finished?"

"I think it's good." Anna slipped the papers out of his sight to tuck them into her clutch for the evening. "But I don't want to call it the best I've ever done."

"I would just assume you'd keep something like this on standby." John turned to face the windows as Anna dressed. "To make sure you're never caught unawares."

"The only problem with that thinking, much as I'd enjoy having a speech on hand," John almost turned at the sound of a frustrated grunt from Anna but kept himself still. "Is that people report on it and then say you've plagiarized yourself."

"What a world."

"It is that." Anna let out a breath, "I'll assume you'd like to take your turn to change into something for dinner."

"I think it would look a bit better than the suit I'm wearing." John risked a look over his shoulder before turning to see Anna in her dress. "And I'd hate to look out of place when you're… When you're looking so…"

"So what?"

"Divine." John coughed, trying to recover what little dignity he may have left as he searched desperately for his decorum. "It's a stunning dress."

"Thank you." Anna pursed her lips, "I do hope you like what's underneath it as well."

John could barely swallow. "Really?"

"Yes, really." Anna shrugged, sending the black material of her slightly flared skirt rippling away from the bodice. "But you've seen it before, so maybe not."

"Why, what is it?"

Anna ran her tongue over her lower lip. "Nothing."

Given the lack of blood flow to his head, it was a wonder John even had thoughts to marvel at how he stayed standing. "Feck me."

"I plan to." Anna stepped to the side. "But later. First, it's probably best you get dressed. It wouldn't do to have me late when I'm the keynote speaker."

John could only nod, helpless as the images of Anna from the night before played over and over in his mind as he almost put himself back-to-front in his shirt, and finally managed to get dressed. Myers and Shaw already waited in the corridor, both of them giving him curious looks when he had them take point to lead them down to the main conference room that doubled as the ballroom that night. But it gave him the distance he needed to get ahold of himself so that when their quartet disembarked the lift he was all business and ready to keep a sweep of the crowd while staying close to Anna.

Their table sat them close to the small stage where the evening's speakers took their turns while the gathered attendees enjoyed dinner. Or chewed through it. John spread it around his plate until he noticed Anna barely touched hers.

"Are you hungry?"

"Not for this." Anna shook her head, making a face at the plate. "For being in Spain, this cuisine has a lot to answer for."

"I've definitely had better." John bit at the edge of his tongue before maneuvering to whisper in her ear while appearing as if he were sharing important information. "Like you, last night. I could live with that taste on my tongue forever."

"Forever?"

"Well, however, wherever, whenever."

Anna shivered and almost responded but her name came over the microphone. With a second spared to scowl at John, Anna stood to smile at the crowd. John managed her chair and shadowed her to the stage as Shaw and Myers helped close the other points of the triangle for the duration of Anna's speech.

"Ladies and gentlemen, it's truly my pleasure to be with you over the last two days. Usually these kinds of activities are handled by Lady Mary Crawley and after getting this honor for myself I'm wondering if she's been downplaying the amount of change that we can affect in the course of the three-days we spend together in stuffy conference rooms." Anna smiled at the group and cleared her throat before continuing. "But what I've considered most, over the last twenty-four hours, is the goal of what we're doing here. What we truly hope to accomplish."

John snuck a momentary glance at Anna before he returned his head to swivel so he could survey the room. "Because if we're serious about changing the world then we've got to do more. We've got to be more. As an anonymous individual said with the wisdom only the internet can offer us, 'Words can inspire. Thoughts can provoke. But only action truly brings you closer to your dreams' and I have to wonder…"

Anna's pause had John sneaking a longer look at her, "I have to wonder if we're serious about the changes we're hoping to make. If we're truly making them our dreams because I know, for myself, my actions need to be more."

She flicked her eyes to John a moment before facing down the near-silent audience in the room. "That's what I want to talk about tonight. I want to talk about the more we can do and then how I plan to do it. Because tonight will represent my promise to you. It'll be the moment of accountability from which I can measure whether or not I'm getting closer to the dreams I have of truly changing the world."

If not for the need to continue watching the room, John swore he could have spent the rest of the night watching Anna's face. To watch her as she spoke passionately throughout her speech. To listen intently to her words as she bore her soul to those shadowed at the tables spread over the conference room. And then clap with the rest of them when Anna finished to a standing ovation.

But he could do none of those things. His job forced him to stand by like a statue analyzing for possible threats to her person, and then trail her back to the table. Or stand to the side when dinner ended and the guests of the evening assembled on the dancefloor. A floor he, Myers, and Shaw patrolled the edges of as Anna graciously accepted the invitations to dance from men in suits costing more than John made in a year in the Army.

The crowd thinned a bit, the guests returning to their rooms as yawns widened and conversations ebbed. Invitations to the bar or schedules for brunches and breakfasts before the next morning's closing sessions permeated the quieting music until John signaled for Myers and Shaw to take the rest of the night. They peeled off, mingling and merging with the others, and John made his way to Anna's side.

"Are you ready, Ms. Smith?"

"I am." Anna extended her hand to him, "I do believe you owe me a dance, Mr. Bates."

"Do I?"

"You do." Anna nodded toward the almost empty floor. "It's not as if we'll be disturbing anyone and I know you've been eyeing the other men I've flited across the floor with this evening."

"Security assessment."

"Like you didn't prickle whenever you thought they were propositioning me."

"That's your decision, Ms. Smith."

"Don't worry." Anna gave him a smile, "A third of them were gay or married and the other half weren't interested."

"It's none of my business."

"Sure." Anna squeezed his hand. "One dance John. It won't kill you."

"It might kill you."

"Mr. Bates." Anna used his hand to bring herself toe-to-toe with him. "There's no one around. We're in a room playing lovely music. I would like to dance and, if you think that's going to endanger us, I'll return to our room."

John opened his mouth to speak but Anna beat him to it, "However-"

"However?"

Anna nodded, "However, if you're just avoiding this because you're afraid someone will notice of you think you've got two left feet… I'll be very disappointed."

"I'm worried someone will notice you and I couldn't have your professional presence risked on my account."

"That'll always be a bit of the risk we take, John." Anna brought his hand to her lips and kissed his knuckles. "I don't mind it. But if you do…"

She teethed at her lower lip. "If you do then I won't force anything."

Just as Anna went to drop his hand, John tightened his grip on hers in return and used the leverage it granted to bring her into dance position. "I do mind. But I shouldn't because you should matter to me more."

"Should?"

"Do." John smiled at her, "And I don't have two left feet. They're just… Not as great as they used to be at this."

"Then we'll take it slow."

"I can manage."

Anna eased into their position as she smiled at him, "Of course you can."

John guided them across the floor, his steps almost blocky as the music faded and he lost his train for a second. The slight tug of Anna's hands guided him back into a groove as she took the lead. "I thought the man was supposed to lead?"

"Usually, yes, but I think you're distracted." Anna halted them. "Are you nervous?"

"Very much so." John swallowed, "But it's not why you think."

"The public nature of this dance or me being your defacto boss?"

"It's…" John grimaced, "I haven't danced since I got my replacement leg."

"Oh." Anna frowned, "I didn't even think about that."

"That is reassuring, actually." John brought them back into position. "It means that you don't notice that I've got one leg that I remove at night."

"Every night?"

John gave Anna a smile as he began their steps again. "There might be reasons to ignore it… Given the right circumstances."

"Any particular circumstances?"

"That'd be telling." John's steps grew more confident as he twirled Anna around the floor. "And a gentleman never kisses and tells."

"I feel very confident now." Anna closed her eyes. "Lead on, Mr. Bates."

John kept them going around the room until the music finally stopped. Anna only opened her eyes once John kissed the hand he still held. "I thought you did marvelously, all things considered."

"In another scenario I might get to dance with you when there are other people around." John tucked her hand into the crook of his elbow and led them toward the lifts. "But I think one of us would have to change jobs in that scenario."

"It'd probably have to be you." Anna leaned forward to get the button on the lift. "Given that, in your current profession, I can't see you abandoning your post to dance with someone… No matter how attractive they are."

"True." John shrugged, "But it does give me an excuse to watch you on the floor."

"Only with your head on a swivel." Anna sighed, "What it would be to stand in the same room with you and not have to wonder if you've sensed a threat to my safety."

"To really look at you." John nodded, managing the button for their floor. "To watch you as you work without wondering if the next step I take in your direction'll be because I've got to get you out of the room in a hurry."

"See," Anna leaned into him, "You understand."

"I've always understood it Anna." John twisted at the waist, one of his fingers edging forward to brush a loose strand of hair from her face. "It's why the only thing I ever wanted to do was kiss you."

"What you 'wanted' to do… Past tense?"

"Well, now," John turned entirely, allowing Anna's hand to fall from his arm as both of his hands framed her face. "I'd like to do a whole lot more than kiss you but I'll start there… If you don't mind."

"I'd be rather upset if you didn't."