The following evening, the party found themselves at Windsor Castle. After having had an enjoyable meal at the Diogenes Club the night before, they had spent the day in the Windsor Great Park. Now, though, the tourists had gone home and the party were attending a ball at the Royal Palace. Most of the Royal Family was present, including the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh. Both Archbishops, the Prime Minister and many other dignitaries were present.

After a hearty banquet of venison soup, smoked salmon, roast lamb with all the trimmings and Eton Mess, the dancing began.

Robin and Regina were dancing in time to the slow waltz, held firm in each other's arms and sharing plenty of soft kisses. "Just think in less than two months, we will be sharing our first dance as man and wife," he commented.

"I am counting down the days to our wedding, my love!"

Henry and Ava were also enjoying the waltz and taking the opportunity to catch up on their kissing quotient. Joe and Chloe were doing the same, as were Grace and Sappho. Modesty Blaise was being twirled around by James Bond, whilst Willie Garvin was doing the same with his current paramour. Clark, Diana and Lois were somehow able to improvise a three-handed version of the dance, although Lois was sitting out the more energetic numbers. Jack had somehow managed to lure Hippolyta onto the dance floor. The married couples were dancing together.

Athena snuggled up to Reuben Morton as they danced together. "There's still a few days before we move onto see some fish woman in Scotland."

"Nicola Sturgeon, the First Minister of the Scottish Parliament?"

"I think so."

"So what do you want to do with our free time?"

"Hopefully, this!" The Amazon princess pulled his face to hers and clamped her lips against his. "Henry! Ava! I see what you mean about this True Love's Kiss," she called when she had finally ended the kiss.

"So, young Reuben," Diana said firmly, "What are your intentions towards my niece?"

"Err…"

"Hopefully the same as Princess Athena's towards him," Richard Morton said firmly. "Or we shall be having words, your royal highness."

"I intend to marry your son and make him a Prince of Themyscira. Is that honourable enough, Mr. Morton?"

"And I feel nothing but love for your niece, Princess Diana. When she kissed me, somethings just kicked into place and I felt a jolt like an electric shock!"

"True Love's Kiss!" Henry pronounced solemnly. "You are each other's One True Love. There is no more powerful force in any realm."

"That's not quite true…" the Doctor began.

Nicholas was having a friendly chat with Louise Webster. Having learned something from his failed attempts in the Caribbean to persuade Athena and Sappho to go out with him, he was trying to avoid obvious flirtation. "So, Louise, are you enjoying yourself?"

"Well, Nicholas, how often do you get to rescue two queens from certain death twice? Plus, I never expected to be invited to a ball for foreign dignitaries at Windsor Castle or to befriend Hansel and Gretel!

"Now, a fast polka is being called. May I have the pleasure?"

"I thought that I was supposed to the one who asked?"

"Women's Libber, remember?"

Later on, after they had shared a handful of dances, the ball had ended. They were preparing to leave for respectively the Webster/Spencer household and the hotel. Louise said "See you tomorrow, Nicholas."

"You will. What are we doing?"

"I don't know. The British Museum was mentioned. Something about a Secret Annexe?"

"Well, wherever we go, it's good to spend some time with you." He kissed her cheek and they both blushed.

"Do you have a girlfriend, Nicholas?"

"No. Would you like to be my girlfriend?"

"You live on the other side of the Atlantic!"

"Is that a 'No'?"

"It may have been a 'Yes' if it was practical."

"One way to find out what the answer should be!" Nicholas kissed her softly on the lips. "Does that answer your question. That was a True Love's Kiss!"

"Then according to that hopelessly romantic friend of yours, we belong to each other, right?"

"Right!"

"He's as bad as Jenny Ingles! But…"

"We're having a portal to Brownlow Square installed," Athena said, approaching the couple arm-in-arm with Reuben. "You could get through it to Themyscira and from there to Storybrooke. Nicholas has favoured status, so could go through in reverse."

"Thank you!" Louise threw her arms around Nicholas. "Now, I believe we were kissing…?"

Author's Note

The usual thanks to my fellow author "Model Builder" for his advice and encouragement. Please read his stories.

One of the ideas for this story came from reading Chelsea Cain's "Memoirs of a Teen Sleuth", Nancy Drew's "autobiography". One of the book's frequent ideas was that what separated the United States from other civilisations was their "young sleuths", who were often recruited for special missions. No other country had them. What?! Had Ms. Cain never heard of the Famous Five or the Lone Pine Club? Well, in my Storyverse, Her Majesty's Government had!

Since I had Joe 90 as part of my Storyverse, George Kirrin from the Famous Five was an obvious choice, given that she also lives on the Dorset coast. The rest of the team soon enlisted themselves. As a huge fan of both Malcolm Saville and Anthony Buckeridge, the Lone Piners and the old boys of Sheldrake Grammar quickly joined the team. Yes, before anyone asks, Rex, Jigger and their friends did catch a couple of felons, as did J.C.T. Jennings and his friends at Linbury Court. Terrence Dicks' Baker Street Irregulars was an homage to a childhood favourite. I purchased a battered old copy of the first book in the series, "The Case of the Missing Masterpiece", from a charity shop some years ago and it immediately took me back to my school days. It's time for Dan, Jeff, Liz and Mickey to live again!

Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed my story.