Kate woke up the next morning in Lee's arms, and it took her a full ten seconds before she realized daylight was coming through the slit of the curtain. She sat upright fast, making his arm slide off and smack himself in the face.
"Huh, what?" he said, opening his eyes, confused.
There was sudden knocking on her door, and Kate looked at the clock to see it was almost eight.
"Oh, shit," she said.
"What?" Lee asked again.
"You have to hide," she urged, shoving him now. He sat up and looked towards the sound of continued knocking.
"Who is it?" he asked.
"Edward," she answered, looking at her phone and seeing his text saying he was coming over. "Shit." She jumped out of bed and threw her robe on. Lee scrambled to gather the evidence that he was there from the floor and got dressed fast. He moved to open the curtains of the window to escape out of it when she grabbed him and pulled him back.
"No," she said sharply. "He'll have someone watching."
"Where do I go then?" Lee asked. Kate looked around, feeling scared. She had no idea why Edward was there. He just said he wanted to talk in his text.
"Under the bed," she answered.
"Aw, really?"
"I don't have anywhere else," she said impatiently.
"Fine," he sighed, getting down on the floor and crawling out of sight. She ran for the door before Edward started to get suspicious.
"Hey, baby," he grinned upon seeing her. "Did I catch you at a bad time?"
"Kind of," she answered. "I'm running late."
"This will only take a minute," he promised, moving inside.
"Okay."
She saw Lee's coat then and felt a stab of fear. While Edward's back was still to her, she grabbed it, balled it up, and threw it into the hallway down the opposite end before shutting the door behind her and turning to face him.
"What's this about?" she asked, trying to act natural.
"You and me," Edward started, moving towards her. "And Italy."
"Italy?"
"For our wedding."
"Oh, right," she said, thinking fast.
"What? Not romantic enough?" he asked, concerned.
"No! It's fine," she said quickly. "Yes, let's do Italy."
"Wonderful, cos I already got it set up," Edward said.
"W-What?"
"I called in a favor. I got the best place. It's going to be amazing," Edward said, moving in to kiss her. Kate refrained from cringing at his touch. He pulled back after a moment, looking at her. "Of course, the wedding night will be my favorite," he smiled. "Unless you wanna give in to it now." She dodged his hand as it went to feel her up over her robe.
"I'd rather save it," she said, tucking her hair behind her ear. She felt nervous.
"Really? You sure?" he asked.
"Yes. Sorry. You know how strongly I feel about it."
Edward sighed loudly, scratching the back of his head.
"It's fine," he said.
"Is there anything else, or...?" she trailed off.
"No. I just wanted to check with you about that. Thought I'd stop by on my way to work."
"Well, thank you. It was nice to see you," she smiled.
"You too," he smiled back before kissing her again. Kate thought of Lee hiding in her bedroom and knew he'd be pissed off.
"See you later," she said once Edward stopped and went back out the door. She got lucky in that he didn't notice the coat on the floor down the other end of the hall. Once he was gone, she darted out to retrieve it and darted back inside, locking the door behind her. She made her way back to her bedroom slowly.
"He's gone," she said, sitting on the edge of the bed. Lee slid himself out on his back, his legs still under the bed.
"You okay?" he asked.
"I'm fine."
"I didn't like that," he admitted.
"I didn't either, but it's my cover," Kate sighed. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be. I knew what I was getting into."
"I have less than three weeks to take down Roger," she said. "Or else I have to come up with a damn good reason not to get married."
"You tell the truth," Lee said. "At that point."
"I didn't even want to get engaged, but he pushed. I knew if I didn't say yes, we'd break up, and I needed to stay with him for intel," Kate explained. "Otherwise, I would not be in this position."
"It's okay," Lee assured her. "I understand."
"I feel terrible for lying to you."
"Hey," he said, grabbing her leg with his hand. "You did what you had to do. I said I'd do the same thing if I was in your position, remember?"
"Right. Thank you," she said. "That helps."
Lee pulled the rest of him out from under the bed and got up stand in front of her.
"I have to go. Barney is gonna be pissed I didn't come back, but we're going to be around until tomorrow. Drummer is giving us another shot at these guys."
"Are you going to kill Edward?" Kate asked.
"Not unless he tries to kill me first," Lee answered.
"Okay," she said, feeling bad for Edward despite the fact he did terrible things to people.
"Wear this," Lee instructed, handing her his watch. She took it.
"Why?"
"It's got tracking in it in case something happens to you," he answered.
"Okay," she agreed. It helped her feel a little safer too. Lee cupped her face and kissed her one last time before taking his coat from her hands and leaving. Kate hated to see him go.
...
"I sure hope it was worth almost getting caught," Barney chastised as Lee hopped into the van.
"What does Drummer have us doing?" Lee asked instead, ignoring him. He was doing his best to keep all thoughts of what he'd done with Kate the night before in the background.
"He wants us to grab the admin assistant of Boris. He says she has valuable intel," Barney explained.
"So we're not going after Edward or any of the men?" Lee confirmed.
"Not today."
"What made him change his mind from last night?"
"I don't know. Why do any of those CIA spooks do anything?" Barney asked. "I just follow orders."
"I'm sick of being in the dark," Toll muttered. "Why can't the objective ever be clear with these guys?"
"They're CIA," Barney shrugged. "Vague is what they do best."
"So get the assistant," Lee said, bringing them back on point. "We can do that."
"Yea. Toll, you're up," Barney said, throwing the van in gear and driving them to their destination.
...
Kate gave the white van a scrutinizing look as she walked past it. Edward had kindly gotten her a job running the office for Boris. She knew it was a cover for an arms operation, but she played the part of the dumb, naive girlfriend and went along with it. The cover office was a modeling business of all things. Kate suspected this was part of the human trafficking piece too. She cringed every time she saw a hopeful young woman come in looking for work. Some she never saw again. She'd made note of each and every one that disappeared and forwarded it to Drummer. She didn't know if they were ever found or not. She had to have hope that they were.
Today, she got settled at her desk only to be surprised to see the woman from the bathroom the night before walk in from a meeting room. The woman smiled brightly at her.
"Hi," she said with a small wave. "Desiree, right?"
"Yes," Kate nodded. "Tansley?"
"Yes! I'm sorry we haven't had the chance to meet before," Tansley said. "I'm usually downstairs. They just bumped me up here today."
"So we'll be working together," Kate noted.
"Yup," Tansley beamed at her. Kate liked this woman. She was friendly and personable. It would make working there a bit more bearable. She went to her desk across from Kate and booted up her computer. Kate tried to focus when the front door opened, and she turned her head to see Toll standing there. She froze. What the hell was he doing there?
"Excuse me, ma'am?" Toll said, stopping in front of Tansley. Kate watched, transfixed.
"Yes?" Tansley asked, looking up at him. Her cheeks went slightly pink at the sight of him. Kate knew why. Toll wasn't so bad looking himself, and his smile was enough to melt anyone when used appropriately. Like now.
"I'm afraid I've backed into someone's car," Toll said with that smile. "Do you mind coming to check whose it is so I can give my insurance information to them?"
"Oh no! Okay," Tansley said, getting up. "I'll know whose it is." She walked ahead of Toll to the door, and Toll gave Kate a wink as he passed her and mouthed the word "coffee." She frowned. What was he doing? Unable to ignore her curiosity, she got up to the window to watch. Once they were near the van, Toll scooped her up, the van door opened to reveal Caesar, and both Toll and Tansley disappeared inside of it.
"Oh shit," Kate said. They were taking Tansley. She had no idea why. She hurried back to her desk just as Boris arrived. He had short black hair and a sharp chin. His eyes were also black. He was muscular and medium height, and he always wore combat boots. Kate didn't like meeting his gaze very often. She felt like he could see through her when she did.
"Where's Tansley?" he asked in his thick, Russian accent, seeing her empty desk.
"Um, she went out for a coffee I think," Kate answered, hoping Boris couldn't tell she was lying. She hoped the boys were long gone by now. Boris sighed impatiently and looked at his watch.
"All right. Page me when she's back."
"You got it."
Kate gave him her best smile, and he just grunted in return before going back down the hallway. Kate hoped that whatever they needed Tansley for, they'd get it and have her back before Boris figured out she'd been kidnapped.
...
"What is the meaning of this?!" the woman yelped, thrashing around as Toll tried to keep her still. Caesar and Doc dodged her flying feet until Gunner got a hold of them and held them still.
"Settle down," Toll instructed. "We're not here to hurt you."
"You just kidnapped me!" she shrieked. "What else are you gonna do to me?!"
"We just want information," Barney said from the driver's seat. Lee was watching this woman warily. Did she know Kate? He foolishly hadn't realized Kate would be working at the same building and was very surprised to see her walk by the van while they were waiting inside of it.
"What information?" the woman asked, twisting to look at him. "I don't know anything! I just answer phones and do paperwork!"
"Nice try," Barney told her. Then he parked the van under an overpass and turned to look at her square on. "Angels have to defeat the demons, you know."
The woman instantly relaxed in Toll's arms and started to laugh a little.
"Because the demons shouldn't run the world," she replied. "Okay, so Drummer sent you."
"You know Drummer?" Toll asked, surprised.
"Damn, man!" Caesar exclaimed, glaring at Barney. "Would you stop keeping things from us?"
"How are you doing, Agent Fields?" Barney asked, ignoring him. "Nice to meet you."
"Likewise," she smiled, not offering her real first name. "You are...?" She paused, waiting.
"Barney," he answered. "That's Lee, Caesar, Doc, Gunner, and Toll."
"Hi," Toll said, giving her a smile and letting her go. Gunner released her legs also. She adjusted her jacket and straightened her spine, trying to get some of her dignity back.
"Well, you boys certainly know how to yank someone off the street in broad daylight," she commented. "But you've probably gotten my boss on high alert."
"You'll be back just in time from your coffee run," Barney promised. Doc held up one to show her.
"What do you want to know?" Tansley asked.
"Everything," Barney answered. She gave him a wry smile and then took a deep breath.
...
Kate looked up when Tansley came back holding a coffee. She felt relief that she wouldn't have to try to lie to Boris again. Tansley gave her a bright smile and sat down at her desk again.
"You okay?" Kate asked cautiously. "You didn't come back after that guy was here."
"Oh, he hit someone else's car," Tansley dismissed. "Then I went for a coffee, and now I'm back."
"Right," Kate nodded. Boris returned then without waiting to be paged and stopped at Tansley's desk.
"I need you to make some calls," he said, giving her a knowing look. Tansley nodded.
"I can do that," she agreed.
"And why didn't you get me one?" he asked, gesturing to the coffee.
"I'm sorry. It was kind of a last minute decision," Tansley apologized. "I can go get you one now?"
"No," Boris said gruffly. "Just make the calls."
"You got it," Tansley nodded, and then he was gone. Kate watched Tansley carefully, getting the sense there was more to this woman than she realized. Why had Toll taken her in broad daylight only to let her come back? What the hell was going on?
She wished someone would keep her in the loop so she wasn't left feeling like she was going crazy.