Thank you again, Karen Battaglia, for your review! Sorry I took so long to update. My other fandom stories kind of got in the way.

Cheers!

"It goes on your molar," 99 explained. Max examined the contraption in his fingers before opening his mouth and sticking it onto his back tooth.

"Can you hear me?!" he shouted. 99 cringed and hissed, glaring at him while holding her ear. He made an apologetic face and lowered his voice significantly. "Can you hear me?"

"I can," she answered stiffly. She was still annoyed that he carjacked a Ferrari. They were the only ones driving it, contrary to his argument that everyone over here had one. She had ducked down in her seat as far as she could go, but she still had felt exposed.

"Are you still mad about the Ferrari?" Max asked, reading her mind.

"No," she shook her head.

"You are. You're still mad at me," he said, sighing.

"Can we focus here?" 99 asked. "The only way I'm going to hear that you're in trouble is if you say so, got it? If you're captured, there's a hidden compartment in your belt." She showed him the small pill, holding it up before putting it back.

"Any ideas on how I could get them to take it?" Max asked. She rolled her eyes. Always with the jokes, this one.

"He does know it's for him, right?" a voice asked. They both whirled, and 99 aimed her gun at the newcomer, who raised his hands.

"Who the hell are you?" she demanded.

"Agent Bradley Fine," he answered. "CIA."

"Oh, great," 99 groaned, holstering her gun.

"CIA?" Max asked. "But this is our case."

"I know, and you're going to screw it up," Fine answered. "What kind of stunt was that? Driving a Ferrari around in broad daylight? Are you trying to get yourselves caught?"

"That's how you found us, isn't it?" 99 asked.

"You bet it was."

"I told you," 99 said to Max a little accusingly.

"I'm going into that bakery," Max gestured. "Because we have a job to do."

"Fine, but I'm staying," Fine insisted.

"We don't need you," 99 huffed. "If we needed a spook, we'd have invited you along with us."

"I'm known for crashing parties," Fine shrugged.

"You two figure it out," Max said. "I have to get going now."

"Susan says hello," Fine said, pointing to his ear. Max's face brightened.

"Oh, hey, Susan!" he called.

"She says be careful," Fine reiterated.

"I got this," Max said, smiling. Then he hurried across the street and down to the bakery. 99 went off to find another way in, and to her great annoyance, Agent Fine followed.

...

"Ugh," Susan said, looking away.

"What's wrong?" Nancy asked, noticing and coming over.

"Bradley is...I don't even know what he's doing," Susan sighed. Well, she did know. He was following Agent 99, but he was right behind her in the duct work, and he had a great visual of her...

"That's a really nice butt," Nancy noted, leaning to peer at it. "She must do squats or something."

"Yea, yea," Susan waved her hand, feeling annoyed. She had her mic on mute so Bradley wouldn't hear her. He didn't need her assistance in that moment anyway.

"Are you still feeling jealous?" Nancy asked, sitting on the edge of Susan's desk.

"No!" Susan said in a way that clearly indicated she was still indeed jealous of Max.

"It must be really hard watching it from over here," Nancy went on sympathetically.

"You are not helping," Susan growled a little.

"Oh, something is happening," Nancy said, gesturing at the computer monitor. Susan looked, and she gasped. Bradley was now crawling like a madman behind 99 and came out of the duct and swiftly dropped to the ground. Bullets were flying around him. Susan turned on the mic again.

"What's happening?!" she shouted.

"We've been compromised!" Fine shouted back. Susan could only watch as he ran after 99, firing off shots as he went.

"Where's Max?" Susan asked. She didn't get an answer, which frustrated her. She needed to know that her friend was okay. Eventually, Fine and 99 met up with Max, and Susan felt a great relief.

"The roof," she said into Fine's ear. She had the layout of the bakery on her other monitor. "That's your best bet right now!"

"Thanks, love!" Fine hollered. The love word never got old. Susan smiled to herself as they all ran. When they got to the roof, though, there was another problem.

"Holy mother of..." Nancy trailed off, her jaw dropping upon the sight of the giant that crashed through the blocked door.

"Max!" Susan shouted when the giant picked up Max and threw him. He landed on 99, and it appeared that his hand had rested on her breast. Fine took a crack at the man without success, and he went flying as well.

"Oh my God," Nancy gasped, covering her eyes.

"What's going on?" Elaine asked, approaching. She narrowed her eyes upon seeing the screen. "I thought I told Fine to stay in the background?"

"Yea, well, he took things into his own hands," Susan dismissed.

99 got thrown across Fine's visual and landed hard. She was soon pinned under some debris.

"This is bad," Nancy said, jittery with fear and anticipation.

Max was up in the air, being held by the giant. He started shouting Russian.

"Yes! Go Max!" Susan cheered. He was de-escalating the situation, and it actually worked!

"What's happening?" Elaine asked when Max was set down.

"He just made a friend, that's what happened," Susan beamed. She was so proud of her friend.

"What are we watching?" Ford questioned, appearing. He took in the scene before him and gave a snort when Max and 99 smashed into the wall after swinging from the cable.

"What?" Susan asked.

"I would have made that," Ford shrugged. "Simple enough of a move, really."

Fine's camera showed him running down to another cable and yanking it off. He swung down and went through the window, yelling and hollering in pain as he did so. He ran out of the apartment he had crashed into (thankfully, it was empty) and down to the street. Susan watched Max and 99 hurry off in the other direction.

"They buried the uranium," Fine said to her as he hurried along the street. "They got the evidence."

"Excellent!" Elaine crowed. "Well done."

"I'm going to make my way home now," Fine said. "If I'm no longer needed over here."

"You're good to come home," Elaine confirmed. "Good job, even though I told you to stay back."

"I don't know how they would have done it without me," Fine said. He got to his car at this point and got into it. Elaine gave a curt nod before she walked away. Ford was rolling his eyes as he left without a word. Nancy patted Susan's shoulder and left her alone.

"See you soon," Susan said to Fine. She saw him look in his rear view mirror and smile.

"Yes, Susan," he agreed. "See you soon."

She swooned a little.

...

"Seriously," 99 said through her laughter. "Good job today." They were waiting for their dinner, and Max felt like something was happening between them. He felt warm inside. He really did admire 99. He had a bit of a crush on her too.

"We did it together," he insisted, bumping her shoulder with his fist.

"So, you like the field work?" she asked, leaning back in her chair with her glass of wine.

"I do," he nodded. "I really do. I hope I get more assignments when we get back."

"I'm sure Chief will recognize your talents and grant your wish," 99 smiled.

Max smiled back and didn't comment. He kept replaying everything that had happened in his mind over and over. He had thought for a moment that he was in trouble when Siegfried had locked him in that room to die, but his quick thinking got him out of there in one piece. His body was hurting from crashing into the wall, though.

"I'll put in a good word for you," 99 said, reaching to rest her hand on top of his. Max felt the tingling all the way to his toes. He was definitely crushing on her hard right now.

"Thanks," he replied. He moved to hold her fingers in his, and she didn't pull her hand away. This was a good sign. Then their dinner arrived, and he had to let go of her hand so she could eat. The whole time, though, they caught each other's eyes and made small smiles in response. When they went back to their hotel, 99 hovered outside her door.

"I'm really glad you came with me," she said after a moment. "I mean that."

"I'm really glad I got to come with you," he smiled. There was a moment, and he took it. He leaned in and gently, softly touched his lips to hers. He didn't do any more than that, and he pulled back after ten seconds. She had a dazed look in her eyes, and he felt success. The next time he kissed her, it would be longer and better. He wanted her to want it. He wanted her to know that he took this sort of thing seriously, that he respected her and cherished her. He wanted the build up.

"Do you want to come in?" she asked.

"I want to enjoy every moment of build up first," he answered. "But thank you."

99 looked a bit startled at first, but then she smiled.

"Okay," she agreed. "Sounds good."

He reached to squeeze her hand before releasing it and going to his room. He fell asleep with a huge smile on his face.