Scott woke the next morning feeling refreshed and contented. He looked at his watch, eight o' clock. His eyebrows shot up towards his hairline, he hadn't slept that long for years. His movements woke Ned who rolled over to look at him blearily.
"time's i'?"
"Eight hundred hours." Ned blinked a couple of times,
"Boy, my mouth tastes bad. D'you want some breakfast?" Scott nodded,
"What is there?" Ned sat up and stretched, scratching his back,
"Porridge, or porridge. It's all that's kept in stock. But if you don't fancy that, there's a diner down off the lobby that does breakfasts."
"Porridge is fine. Want a hand?"
"Mmph." Was all Scott got in return, so he hauled himself out of bed, swayed unsteadily, went to the bathroom and stuck his head under the cold tap. Wide awake now, he made his way to the tiny kitchenette off the lounge and pointlessly moved bowls around while Ned made porridge. They sat in the lounge to eat and Ned spoke between mouthfuls, his besocked feet resting on Scott's knees,
"Eleven o'clock you're being picked up right?"
"Yeah. Tin-Tin's coming over in the jet."
"You have a private jet?"
"Mmm, little red beauty called Ladybird. Well we are kinda out-of-the-way. We couldn't go anywhere if we didn't. Good porridge by the way."
"There's more in the pot if you want, it'll be congealing though. Can I come with you to see you off?"
"Sure. Knowing Tin-Tin she'll be angling to meet you anyway."
"She can fly then?"
"She can do pretty much anything. Dad has phases when he lets her out on rescues – she's great with the electronics and anything technical – but then he has times when he gets scared for her and won't let her go. Drives her crazy. She tends to go shopping more when that happens. A new wardrobe every six months or so. Shops like you wouldn't believe, and then still goes ahead and makes most of her own clothes. I shouldn't complain though; she makes most of my clothes too."
"Really?"
"Yep. Does the uniforms too with Grandma and Brains. She's a gem really." Scott heaved Ned's feet off his legs and went back to the kitchen to scrape out the gungey porridge that was left.
At ten-thirty, they made their way to the air-field and sat in the lounge area, waiting. At three minutes past eleven, Tin-Tin strolled into the lounge, heads turning at her tight flight-suit and immaculate turn-out. She made her way over to Scott and Ned and held out her hand to Ned,
"Hello, you must be Mr Cook." Ned took her hand, swallowing nervously,
"Please call me Ned." Tin-Tin smiled,
"Tin-Tin. Hello Scott, did you have a good time?"
"Just great, Tin-Tin." He picked up his tiny bag and stood up. "I guess we'd better get going. Dad's probably keeping an eye on the time.
"He did say something about it when I left, yes. Scott, will you go and get us a runway cleared. I'll be ten seconds." Scott bit his lip, and squeezed Ned's proffered hand fondly. "I'll be in touch as soon as I can." He turned quickly and walked out towards the waiting jet.
Tin-Tin smiled at Ned,
"I can see why you're attracted to each other. You're total opposites on the surface, but you're exactly the same underneath. Both passionate about your work and both completely different when you're off duty to when you're on duty. Except maybe Scott feels he's on duty more of the time. Look, I just wanted to reassure you. Be patient with Scott, he's as bad as his father, he'd sacrifice everything to maintain the secrecy of our organisation and he sees possible security breaches everywhere. He won't fight for you to come to the base because he doesn't have the conviction that it's the right thing, but it doesn't mean he doesn't want you there. You've completely shaken him emotionally and I've never seen him like that before, so don't think he's not thinking of you. I'll badger him a bit for you. I might even badger his father, if Scott gets round to telling him about you. Take care Ned." She kissed him on the cheek and was off, sprinting towards the jet before Ned could say a word.
In the cockpit Scott had taken the controls. He had put on his shades from the compartment at his side and as Tin-Tin got in and the hood closed over them, he taxied them forward to their assigned runway, waited for clearance, and took off, bound for home.