Anna kept her arms crossed as she waited outside the office. A moment later the door opened and Talbot exited. He nodded at Anna before turning to Gwen and immediately pulling her toward a desk Gwen had seized in the corner of the now sparsely populated office.

Eyes narrowing, Anna surveyed the space. "Gwen, we need to find a new location. And get one of those half-off furniture places to cut us a deal on office equipment and supplies. And we need-"

"Ms. Smith?" Anna pivoted to face John as he leaned out his half-open door. "May I speak with you in private for a moment?"

"Of course." Anna joined John in his office and stayed standing between the mismatched sofas that sat perpendicular to the desk he stalked back to after he closed the door. "Something on your mind?"

"There are quite a few things on my mind but I'll start with the most serious and work back from there." John pivoted to face Anna, leaning slightly on the desk. "You've hired a lobbyist."

"I didn't hire him."

"Then why is he here?"

"He volunteered."

John blinked at her, "Henry Talbot, from Aldridge, Rogers, and Talbot volunteered to be here? One of the names on a major lobbying firm just volunteered to be here?"

"Yes, he did." Anna risked her next statement, "And, technically speaking, he's a political consultant, not a lobbyist."

"Are you splitting hairs about this with me?"

"It would seem I am. But the point, in case your checkbook is worried, is that he's doing this all for free." Anna shrugged, "So we'd best take advantage of his experience and efforts yes?"

John snorted, "Because I need another person here like you?"

"I don't understand the implication."

"Another person, with experience I can't possibly afford, working for me through ways and means they don't explain while making decisions that will affect how my campaign gets run." John shook his head, "I can't take another person on this team like you."

"He's not like me."

"He's working here for free like you."

"True. And he did take the position because I'm working here for free." Anna frowned, "Do you not like him?"

"What?"

"Do you not like Mr. Talbot?" Anna motioned back toward the door, "Because while it'll be hard to find someone else of his skill and experience it won't be impossible and, if necessary, I could find someone willing to do it for a fraction of their usual price. Not another freebie but the universe demands that the bill come due and we lucked out with Talbot when-"

"I don't want someone else."

"But you seem like you-"

"I like Mr. Talbot just fine."

Anna bit down on the inside of her cheek, "Then he's not the issue?"

"No, he's not the issue. At least…" John ground his teeth, "It's what he represents to this campaign that I find distressing."

"Ah." Anna took a breath and moved her arms back into their crossed position on her chest. "I can understand your hesitance to use someone of Mr. Talbot's reputation because of the trappings that come attached to him, but he's a necessary evil… All things considered."

"I don't want any evils at all."

"Better lesser than greater, in my opinion."

"Lesser, greater, middling… It's all evil and if I have to choose between one of them, I choose none at all." John shuffled, "If you don't mind."

"I never mind when someone quotes Geralt of Rivia at me." Anna gave a little smile. "I too am a fan of The Witcher."

"That's not the point, Ms. Smith."

"No, your point is that we need someone who's squeaky clean and comes here bearing gifts while having no possible flaws or drawbacks." Anna shook her head, "The world doesn't wrap them that way and the reality is that we need someone who thinks like Mr. Talbot does to have a fighting chance against someone as greasy and slimy as Thomas Barrow."

"We don't-"

"We do, Minister, and that's the hard truth you're loathe to accept." Anna sighed, "Henry Talbot is a good man. I wouldn't have sought him out if I didn't think the content of his character matched the mettle of your own."

"Do you?"

Anna frowned in confusion, "I'm sorry."

"Do you, Ms. Smith, match the content of Mr. Talbot's character?" John pointed at himself, "Does your mettle match mine?"

"That's up for interpretation."

"Yours?"

"Yours, actually." Anna shrugged, "I know the kind of person I am so I've no fear of mirrors but maybe you won't like the magnifying glass when you hold it up to me in your investigation."

"I won't?"

"I don't know." Anna chewed the inside of her cheek a moment, "And since I don't know I'll let you be the judge of it."

"And how can I judge anything about you when you keep it all to yourself?" John scoffed, running a hand through his hair. "You've worked here almost a whole business week and yet I don't know anything more about you than I learned the first day you barged into my office and demanded you take the position you have now."

"And that bothers you?"

"It bothers me that you're running my campaign, making hiring and firing decisions, and completely changing the face of this office and I don't know if I can actually trust you to be here because you believe in the cause I represent or because you're simply trying to have some fun in a new venue."

"Fair." Anna paced a moment, walking away from John before pivoting to face him again. "What would you need to know about me to soothe your fears?"

"Anything." John threw up his hands. "Any tiny detail about you that might cut through the fog you lay so thickly about yourself it obscures whatever real you lies under the surface."

"Okay." Anna nodded, sucking the insides of her cheeks before speaking again. "Why don't I tell you a little about my day and you can make your decision about the content of my character. Yes?"

John opened his hand to her before matching her pose with his arms crossed over his chest, pulling his shirt and bunching his waistcoat. "Please enlighten me."

Anna took a breath, "This morning I met with a trio of people I've hired to run background on you, your staff, and your entire campaign. They hacked into your files and did the same for Thomas Barrow. What they found is that Thomas Barrow, through either electronic or human means, has managed to scoop every step of your campaign so far. And, upon discovery of that fact, I accepted the offer of one of that trio to engage in a flirtation offensive to try and pry information from any willing participant in Thomas Barrow's camp."

She waited but John did not speak. His jaw had slackened slightly so Anna pressed on. "Then I had Gwen cancel a meeting she struggled to set up because they didn't respect her. And, because they didn't respect her, I tipped someone off so they could ruin that man's career. Then I used a personal relationship, two actually, to get a meeting that allowed me to invite Henry Talbot to join our efforts."

There was silence for a moment before Anna spoke again, "I build and raze people's careers as part of what I do for a living, all the while shifting through the detritus of people's lives to find bits and pieces I can use to either create a version of them I can sell or the version of them I can use to destroy them. All the while I'm searching out various weak points I can exploit later to my advantage.

"And, if that's not enough," Anna took another breath, "I also donate heavily to charity and I support mental health groups. I single-handedly saved a teen home from being knocked down and, every year, I renew a scholarship for estate housed individuals to attend university."

Anna stiffened, "So you tell me, Minister, if you think I'm the kind of person who matches your mettle."

John gaped at her and slowly shook his head, "You're an absolute gray, aren't you? Without black or white but a constant shifting of shades to suit your purposes."

"I do trend toward the morally ambiguous, yes." Anna risked a step closer to John. "But I chose to work with you on your campaign because I believe in what you represent. That's not gray."

"No, I don't think I am." John pushed off the desk to stand, "Which makes me even more hesitant to accept your help… Or even your being here."

"Fair." Anna rolled her shoulders back, "But you can trust that anything I do, on your campaign, will be above board."

"Will it?"

"I don't intend to allow anyone to smear your name."

"Even when you're looking for weaknesses you can exploit?"

"It's about being surgical in the strikes that makes them effective."

"And that's what you are?"

"Of course."

"And, for this case, are you simply looking for weaknesses in me that you'll exploit later to your gain?"

"No."

"And why should I believe that?"

"Maybe you shouldn't but it's the truth."

"According to you?"

"No because truth's not subjective." Anna shook off the thought, "In this case, Minister, it's far better for me to make you and your campaign above reproach."

"And why's that?"

Anna took a breath, held it, and then let it out slowly before answering. "Because everyone needs something to believe in. And, for all the gray in my life, I want to believe in you. Because of that, I won't allow anything I do to sink your ship or weaken it in any way."

"And why's that?"

"Because it's a crime to destroy art and yours is such an interestingly unique ship." Anna gave him a little smile, "I like unique things."

John snorted, "I'm not unique?"

"No?"

"Of course not."

"Then explain to me, without being unique, how you went from settling for the back bench to being Shadow Minister for Higher Education?"

"I left academia."

"But that's not all, is it?" Anna eyed John, an expression akin to slight awe on her face. "I saw you, on TV, when you first went from school trustee to MP for Manchester. And I recognize that the party wanted to ride that wave you had as long as they could but you saw potential outside that and you seized it without remorse."

"I was young and stupid."

"You were bold and dedicated." Anna shook her head, "Don't demean what you did. Or what you accomplished when they made you Foreign Secretary."

"That wasn't…" John fumbled his words, "I didn't…"

"You did great things and you'll continue to do great things." Anna took a breath, "Your opposition's biggest flaw has always been underestimating you. Being idiots they tend to forget your military service or that your academic specialty was World Literature and Modern Warfare. And they point to your previous careers as drawbacks when they're what make you relatable to the people."

John's eyes narrowed, "You've obviously done your research."

"I've followed your career for a long time." Anna rolled her eyes, "Unlike your opposition, obviously."

"And that's what's going to help me win?"

"It certainly makes you more qualified than a number of PMs we've had. And more trustworthy than a number of others." Anna winced, "Even if your fiscal policy reeks a little of Margaret Thatcher."

"We've got to get spending under control."

"I don't disagree but I wouldn't do it that way."

"You've a better way to do it?"

"Maybe but I've not tried my hand at finding a better answer yet." Anna paused when she noted John studying her. "What?"

"What drew you to this?"

"You called me into the office."

"Not this conversation," John's jaw firmed, "This campaign."

"I told you, I've followed your-"

"Not me, this." John gestured around him. "The mess of politics."

"Maybe I got interested in exploring the depths of my civic duty."

"You're not the type to feel driven by civic duty." John shook his head, "Even if you believe in what I could represent that's not what pulled you into my office and demanded your position on my staff."

"You're right." Anna nodded, "I don't give two shits about civic duty."

"Then what do you give a shit about?" John stood up. "What made you give a shit about my campaign?"

"You did."

"Me?"

"Of course." Anna bit at the tip of her tongue. "Because I give a shit about the man who has no pride and would open his vein to save his country. I give a shit about the man who'll make a better world for me and others like me. And those not like me.. I give a shit about the man who's determined to save the world."

"I'm not saving the world."

"But you're changing it for the better and that's what matters to me." Anna let out a breath, digging her fingers into her arms in their crossed position. "And I also find you a fascinating character study."

"Because you study people?"

"It is what I read at University." Anna cocked her head to the side. "They gave me an MD for it too."

"You've an MD in psychology?"

"Yes, and it wasn't as much fun as studying humanity on the microscale that is the exaggerated world of politics for my PhD."

"You're a doctor twice over?"

"I'm not licensed to practice so there's some debate about the salutation but yes, I'm qualified to use it." Anna waved off the comment, "It's not something that defines who I am or tells you any more about why I'm here."

"Then why are you here?"

"Because I want to watch you work."

"So you're here, giving me your best work, because you want to study my process like an anthropologist?"

"Yes." Anna stayed still as John stepped closer to her. "I've seen what you've already sacrificed to get here, Minister, and I know the kinds of things you've hidden because you're scared people won't like the skeletons in your closet. But after having spent my career finding ways to carefully craft narratives to either raze and ruin or build and buffer people, I find you're one of the few good men I've ever met in an industry made of scurrying cockroaches."

"That's an awful lot of pressure to put on me."

"You'll handle it."

John almost loomed over her now and Anna dug her fingers into her arms to stop them trembling now. "And how do you know that?"

"Because I know you're a good man." Anna lifted her chin slightly, "And a good man's hard to find."

"And if I'm not a good man?" John lowered his voice, "What if you found out something about me that painted me as less than the man you think I am?"

"Won't happen."

"No?"

"No." Anna tried to fill her lungs with air she could not fit into her constricting chest. "Because there's nothing I could find out that would change what I think or the height of my esteem for you."

"That's a bold statement."

"I'm full of them."

"So I can see." John took a breath and forced himself back a step. "Then, if you're sure, I'll take on Mr. Talbot."

"Good, because I don't think he does returns." Anna turned on her heel to leave the office, "If you're not busy Saturday, you should come to a cricket match."

"Like a date?"

"Like an opportunity to something that matters to me." Anna swallowed as she turned back to look at John. "To see the match of someone who matters to me."

"Whose?"

"My son's." Anna shrugged a shoulder, "Maybe you'll enjoy yourself if you get to spend some time around normal people."

"You have a son?"

"I do."

John gave a laugh, "I didn't even know you were married."

"I'm not." The fingers of Anna's right hand moved to her left ring finger, massaging the bare skin there and scraping over a scar on the underside. "Not anymore, anyway."

"I'm sorry."

"For?"

"For your…" John pointed toward her left hand and Anna dropped it immediately. "It must be difficult."

"Like you wouldn't believe." Anna nodded at him, "But I'm sure you're used to dealing with that kind of struggle in your own way."

"Yes. But not like yours."

"Everyone's experience is different." Anna chewed the inside of her cheek. "How is that… by the way?"

"As if you don't know."

"Maybe I wanted to hear the details from you." Anna put an affect to her voice, "It's all anyone's talking about."

"Yes, the infamous divorce from Mrs. Bates." He held up the paper, "Although the story seems over before it even began."

"What a shame it couldn't be milked for more exposure on the part of the soon-to-be former Mrs. Bates."

"Which makes me wonder," John made a show of looking at the paper, "Is this your work or do I have some shady individual to thank for this story?"

"There was a story about it?"

"Quite a detailed one that exposed my wife's chronic infidelity, gambling problems, and perjury under oath?" John dropped the paper back onto his desk. "It was a miracle, in the words of my solicitor."

"Sounds like." Anna clicked her teeth, "Unfortunately I can claim no great ownership of such an event."

"And you'd swear to that in court?"

"I'd swear to very few things in court but I promise you, I didn't publish anything having to do with your wife in any papers."

John studied Anna for a moment before the lines on his face relaxed. "That's good news, all things considered."

"Why's that?"

"Because if it was you, I'd pass on the thanks of my solicitor thanks before conveying my own opinions on the handling of this private matter."

"It wasn't private."

"Excuse me?"

"It wasn't private." Anna nodded toward the paper. "Your divorce, unfortunately, was public the moment you decided to run for Prime Minister."

"The life of a public figure."

"It's the price you pay, Minister." Anna's lip quirked, "Although I was glad you took my advice and immediately combatted her allegations instead of allowing her to roll over you."

"It didn't hurt that I took your advice and visited those shelters."

"I do know how to do my job."

"That you do." John pointed at the paper, "But I do have to ask if that was only the first prong in your plan to rid me of her and this was your second."

"You think I have that many prongs to my plans?"

"Don't you?"

"It'd be telling if I answer that question."

"Then I'll take that as a 'yes'."

Anna shrugged, "Take it however you like, Minister. But I can neither confirm nor deny any involvement I may or may not've had in the… strategic destruction of your wife's case in court."

"That's how you'll answer this line of interrogation?"

"It's how I handle many lines of interrogation." Anna shrugged again, "More to the point, if I did have a hand in that story then it was a job well done and worthy of praise… As your solicitor noted."

"I don't think it was you."

"No?"

"No." John shook his head, "Not your style."

"I've a style?"

"Graceful and elegant, like a piece of art or a dance. This…" John knocked his knuckle against the paper on the desk. "It was more like a blunt instrument than a surgical strike."

"Sometimes we only need a hammer and not a scalpel." Anna held her hands in front of her, "But you've got to know your tool box and the situation at hand to know when and where to use them."

"You would." John's eyes studied her again and Anna squirmed in place under the intensity of his scrutiny. Squirmed so much it forced her to speak.

"Is there anything else you need from me?"

"Sorry?" John blinked, as if he did not notice the way he stared.

"Is there anything else you wanted to discuss?" Anna opened her hands. "Anything else you needed from me?"

"Right now or in general?"

"Either?"

John shook his head, "No. That's all Ms. Smith. Or…" He frowned, "Or should I address you as 'Dr. Smith'?"

"I'd rather you didn't." Anna shuffled in place, "It'd put us on unequal footing and make my interactions with others awkward."

"Because they're not already intimidated by you?"

"Because they're already intimidated enough by me." Anna moved toward the door, "I don't need them apoplectic at the sight of me."

"Just nervous?"

"People do a great many things when they're trying to impress you."

"Like this cricket match?"

Anna stopped and looked over her shoulder at John, "Sorry?"

"Is the cricket match meant to impress me?"

"It's for children so I doubt it." Anna faced John again, waiting as he crossed the room to stand before her. "Unless you don't like cricket."

"I can't play it since I ruined my knee but I don't mind it." John's lips pursed, "But I'm curious, is this cricket match a strategic move on your part?"

"To what end?"

"You're the one playing four dimensional chess so you tell me."

Anna snorted, "No, it's not a strategic move. It's for recreation."

"For your son?"

"Yes." Anna managed a smile, "And, in case you're curious, there won't be an ulterior motive beyond you getting that slice of my life you're so determined to see to ascertain if I'm to be trusted."

"And you'll do that by inviting me to a cricket match?"

"Yes, because I'm forbidden from even thinking about work on Saturday so you'll get to see the version of me you seem to think lies beneath the obscuring smoke surrounding me."

"Hence your invitation to me?"

"It seemed the easiest way to accomplish your request while also being there for me son." Anna smiled, "Two birds with one scone, as it were."

"Then I accept." John motioned to himself. "Any particular kit I should wear? I don't want to be overdressed."

"His team colors are blue and bronze." Anna looked John up and down. "Colors I think might suit you."

"How's that?"

"Because you've got the vibe of a Ravenclaw."

"I'm actually a Gryffindor."

"Why does that not surprise me?" Anna went to leave but John's hand brushed hers. "Yes?"

"And you?"

"Me what?"

"What are you?"

Anna narrowed her eyes and ran her tongue over her lips before continuing. "What do you think I am?"

"Would it be too 'on the nose' to say you're probably a Slytherin?"

"You wouldn't be the first to call me that." Anna put her hand on the doorhandle. "But I'm actually a Hufflepuff."

"Never would've seen it."

"Most don't." Anna opened the door, "Call if you need me."

"I'm sure you'll anticipate whatever needs I might have before I even know they're there to have."

"If I developed precognition of that magnitude, Minister, I wouldn't be here." Anna's face fell, "For all the shame that would be."

"Where would you be?"

"Away from London, with my family." Anna nodded at him, "I'll leave you to your work, Minister."

"Ms. Smith," John swallowed and Anna took note of all his motions. "I didn't mean to overstep just now and if-"

"There's no reason for you to apologize." Anna shrugged, "We've all got things we wish we could take back or make happen. You just stumbled a little close to one of mine. No harm done."

"You're sure?"

"Absolutely."

"Then why do I feel like you're lying to me?"

Anna held John's gaze, "Because you're a perceptive man that I need to leave to his other work."

John did not respond and Anna left the office.