-/-

"Captain are you alright?" Anderson had to ask. As since returning to duty, following her 'sick leave', Agatha had not been completely herself, and Anderson was certain Count Dracula was the cause.

He had never known his boss to lose focus like this, he was certain she had drifted off whilst he had been speaking, and that was not like her. That monster had done something, Anderson was certain of that.

If Agatha had been aware of her second's thoughts, she might have indeed agreed with them.

Dracula had done something, he had told her he liked her, then he had kissed her most thoroughly many many times. Good kisses, exceptionally good kisses, kisses that Agatha now found herself craving; much like the presence of the vampire himself, both were additive. So occasionally Agatha allowed her mind to wander, normally when Anderson was being particularly dull. Her mind drifted back, to that afternoon on the chaise, Dracula's mouth on hers, his hands exploring the slight curves of her body.

"Captain?" Anderson prompted for the second time, and this time Agatha seemed to jar back awake. "Are you sure you should even be here?"

"Yes…Yes I'm fine, my mind just…well what were you saying again?" Agatha prompted him, so flustered she didn't even notice, the frown on Anderson's forehead.

"Lucy Westenra has been passed by the medics, she is due to be released to the novices today, along with Thomas Banks."

"Oh well that's good." Agatha replied, forcing a smile. She hadn't been down to visit her newest clan members since her return, her own lingering weakness, and Dracula's warning, had put her off.

However, this was going to be the last chance she had, to meet Lucy in a secure environment. When she moved to the novices, Agatha might start bumping into her in the corridors and that would only be more awkward. Agatha had always been one to tackle her problems head on, and she wasn't about to change now.

"How have they been?" Agatha asked innocently.

"Tommy has responded as expected, he has regained more of his memories, he is feeding by himself now. He's still grieving for his past life, he still asks for his mother, he asks for you as well."

"Well I should go and see him…go and see them both before they leave. We are the same clan after all."

"Ag…Captain are you sure that is wise?"

"Why not, I have to face them sometime?" Agatha argued logically, even though she knew Anderson hated the idea, and that Dracula would be pissed she had disobeyed him.

"But the girl…Captain there is something different about the girl." Anderson warned, something his instincts told him was wrong, and yet it was hard to articulate what.

When you were in Lucy's presence people just wanted to be around her. Anderson had caught many of their own guards, just hanging around the girl's room, just talking, there was no harm in just talking. At least that was what they all said, and yet why did all of them seem to compete to take that duty? Already this week Anderson had to break up, what had almost come to a fist fight; where one solider had complained the girl was getting off too lightly, after what she had done to the Captain, and another had come to Lucy's defence.

"Yes, I heard from…well I heard." Agatha wasn't sure why she avoided mentioning, her closer relationship to Dracula to Anderson, well to anyone really.

It wasn't like she was close to many people. Anderson and her, had a solid working relationship, she trusted him, and he trusted her, but they weren't close. Mycroft was as close to a real friend she had among her fellow vampires. Probably because he was one of the few, who had never expressed any interest in her breeding potential. She certainly no longer had any female confidents, not like at the convent. There were other female vampires, fewer yes, but they did exist in other departments. It was just that Agatha's aptitudes had placed her, in a very male dominated sphere.

"Still I should go and say hello." Agatha insisted, her mind was made up now and no one was going to make her change it.

-/-

"Hello Lucy Westenra." Agatha spoke from the doorway. She had bullied Anderson into waiting outside, her second more than a little cross, but it was more dangerous for him to be in here that her; at least that was how it normally worked.

"Agatha!" Lucy exclaimed, dropping the magazine she had been reading onto the bed, and swinging her bare feet off it.

"I would suggest staying there. My sergeant thinks I am mad to come here, after what happened, and he's got a nervous trigger finger. Best keep our distance and save him the heart attack?" Agatha explained, forcing a smile as Lucy looked at her, the smile on her beautiful face falling.

"I keep telling them I am sorry about that." Lucy huffed, sinking back to sit on the edge of her bed. "You believe me, don't you? It's not like I knew what I was doing…"

"I believe that whatever happened between us, was not intentional on your part. I was there, you were not aggressive towards me…"

"See, that's what I keep telling people, but no they all think I am some sort of monster. Which is rich considering…"

"Well they are men, hypocrisy is second nature to them." Agatha quipped, pleased when Lucy laughed and stopped frowning, being sad didn't suit her.

"Why is that?" Lucy questioned, as if the thought had just occurred to her.

"Millennium's of only having to listen to their own opinions I imagine."

"No…yes…I mean why are there so many men, you're the first other woman I've seen in days. I mean I asked the guards to get me some lip gloss and they came back with a chapstick." Lucy shook her head in disgust. "What kind of a sick world am I living in now?"

"One in which we are outnumbered 3:1." Agatha explained. "It feels stranger because you are down here, we can only employ male mortals, and I am the only female vampire in the retrieval division. When you get up to the novices you will find more of us. Teaching is considered a more natural profession for women." Agatha added with more than a hint of derision.

"Well count me out of that one." Lucy sneered. "I told you, education and me do not mix."

"I'm sure you'll find something that fits." Agatha replied politely, it was the right thing to say, as Lucy had over a century to learn if she chose to. "I did, and you will too."

"Yes, but you're smart. All I've ever had are my looks and knowing how to have a good time. I am just going to disappoint you sister."

Sister…it had been over a century since anyone had called her sister, either in the familial, or ecclesiastical sense, and Agatha found she had missed it.

"I will be only disappointed if you don't try, and I believe in you…sister." Agatha added, knowing it was the right thing to say as Lucy positively beamed. She was one of the most beautiful girls Agatha had ever seen, and Agatha wasn't immune to the physical pull she felt towards her. If things had been different…

Perhaps this was what Anderson was talking about, when he said there was something different about Lucy? She was almost magnetic, and it was hard to think about displeasing her for some reason.

"It means a lot to know you have my back. You're the only one I can trust Agatha. It's so strange but I almost feel like we've known each other for years and we have to stick together now...we have to be close…like real sisters."

"We are family now Lucy, I will always have your back." Agatha promised, surprised at the sudden desire to reach out and hug the girl, even as Lucy seemed to lean off the bed in her direction. "I will check on how you are doing after you move. i will help however i can."

"You aren't going so soon are you?" Lucy pleaded, patting the space beside her on the bed. "Stay a while, I want to get to know my sister better."

Flattered for some reason, Agatha actual took a step forward. Before she had the sudden nagging sense of someone else familiar close by, and the force of his disapproval, was like a sudden dash of cold water thrown over her. What on earth had she been doing?

The knocking against the door had Agatha rolling her eyes, was he taking up stalking now, or was this just supposed to be a coincidence? Resisting the urge to smile, Agatha forced her expression into her most displeased and foreboding, before pulling the door open. As expected Dracula was there, leaning against the doorjamb.

"Knock knock."

"Who let you in?"

"Who let you come down here?" Dracula countered with a scowl of his own. "I thought I made my feelings perfectly clear."

"Oh, which ones were those again?" Agatha couldn't help but bait him a little, earning herself, a minute wrinkling of his eyes, and a tug of a half-smile.

"Insufferable woman."

"Egotistical Elder."

"Senseless child."

"Drama Queen."

"Ouch." Dracula clutched his chest as though she had staked him. "Never doubt my manliness Agatha." He added suggestively with a sly wink, that left Agatha flustered.

They were so engrossed in their version of flirting that neither had heard Lucy approach. It was only as she tried to move past Agatha to attack him, that Dracula deigned to pay her the slightest attention.

"Ahhh Lucy." Dracula hissed, catching and squeezing her flailing fist. "Not pleased to see me I take it?"

"You did this to me…to us…" Lucy growled, then whimpering, as Dracula twisted her wrist roughly.

"Yes, I did, and there is no going back, so I invite you to come to terms with it…quickly."

"I hate you…you ruined everything…I was going to be married."

"Yes, to a man you didn't love, who you would grown bored of inside six months." Dracula snarked back. "Let's not turn this into some Shakespearean tragedy of separated lovers." He added, pushing her backwards as he released her.

"Now if you will excuse us." Dracula wrapped his hand around Agatha's elbow, half escorting, half manoeuvring her out of the room, happily slamming the door in Lucy's face. "Much better...alone at last."

"You couldn't help yourself, could you?" Agatha knew she should be cross with him, for interrupting like that when he wasn't needed, for provoking Lucy by his very presence, for handling her like she was some fragile creature that needed to be rescued. Yet it was damn hard to do it, when Dracula pouted down at her like that.

"I am working what do you want?" She demanded when he dared to add puppy dog eyes into the mixture; finally caving and bursting out laughing. "You look ridiculous stop it. Seriously though what are you doing here?"

"Oh, stopping you from being drained to a husk for a second time, isn't a good enough reason?" Dracula countered.

"I was fine, and Anderson was watching on the monitor." Agatha nodded towards her Sergeant, who glared at Dracula with more than enough censure for both of them.

"Forgive me my darling, if I rate your safety a little higher than you do, or even your noble Sergeant." Dracula retorted, shooting Anderson a shit eating grin that had the human male bristling. "After all I only just got you back to health, and as much as I enjoy keeping you in my bed, I prefer it when you are there and conscious."

Choosing to ignore the endearment and the male posturing, Agatha instead focused on what he was implying. "You cannot wrap me in cotton wool Count, I won't allow it. If you try to tell me what to do…"

"I am not telling you what to do Agatha. If you insist on putting yourself in danger I will not stop you. However, I will be there to ensure you have adequate protection. I won't allow you to be harmed, if there is a single thing in my power I can do to stop it."

Closing her eyes as she tried best not to react poorly, Agatha felt her buttons being pushed. She had tried to be nice about this, but trust Dracula to try and steamroll all over her. "You are impossible."

"Yes, and you love it." Dracula expounded, confident in his own appeal, and Agatha's forgiving nature.

"You cannot follow my every step."

"Can't I?"

"Not without increasing, the likelihood of me staking you, from likely to absolutely certain."

"Well that is a risk I am willing to take."

"Urghhh…fine…tag along if you insist on it, I assure you will soon get bored." Agatha pronounced with certainty of her own.

Turning on her heel she marched down the corridor, knowing without having to look that Dracula was at her shoulder.

"Why are you really here?" Agatha demanded when they made it to the lift.

"Why to see you of course."

"You could have just called me."

"I felt like being spontaneous."

"You felt like coming to my work, without an invitation, and calling me darling in front of one of my team?"

"Ahh, do you not like it, I could use dearest or sweetheart, or some other term of your choosing." Dracula prodded, feigning innocence. Yet his glee only grew as Agatha growled and pinned him against the side of the elevator.

"Darling if you wanted some alone time with me, you just had to say." Dracula teased, gazing down into Agatha's glare, lifting a hand to smooth out the wrinkles in her brow.

"You are going to stop this, you are going to let me do my job the way I see fit, you are going to give me space when I say I want space and you are never ever going to undermine me like that in front of my team…Non-negotiable." Agatha snarled.

"Anything you say dearest." Dracula capitulated with a wink. "Now that's our first fight out of the way, would you like to kiss and make up…We could try Mycroft's office, that sofa of his looks quite comfortable."

"Unbelievable." Agatha muttered, shaking her head, releasing him as the lift opened for her floor, and luckily there was no one there waiting.

"What not even a quickie in here?" Dracula pouted, resting one hand against the doors to stop them from closing, as he leaned down, his eyes dropping to her lips.

"How quick?" Agatha asked, an idea formulating in her mind, as she batted her eyelashes up at him, deliberately biting her lip in a way that would distract him, as she led him back inside.

"Hmmm…not too quick." Dracula suggested stepping back into the lift, his eyes drifting closed, as he leant down to capture her lips.

Only for Agatha to dip under his arm, and escape just before the door closed, slamming one of the other buttons for good measure. Grunting Dracula turned to follow and slammed into the closed doors. His quarry had escaped him, and one glance at the button Agatha had pressed had him groaning, as the elevator continued on its journey.

"Clever girl." Dracula groaned, resigned to the fact he had lost this game. He pulled out his smart phone and texted her a quick message.

Dinner tonight? Pick you up at 11?

For a moment there was a pause and then the little bubble that indicated she was messaging back appeared.

Casual or fancy?

Beaming in delight Dracula considered their options Staying in meant he could persuade Agatha into another session on the chaise. But going out meant he got to show off…choices…choices…

Wear my dress, I want to take you dancing

The reply took even longer this time and Dracula began to worry, if he should have suggested staying in after all. The sudden ping alert reassured him.

Fine, I'm sure your feet will eventually forgive you x

Laughing Dracula traced the short hand kiss signature, it was as close as he was going to get until later that evening, but it would do for now.

-/-