Chapter Two: Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting

The Triumph wasn't nearly as posh as Harry made out. I'd gone for casual yet not under-dressed and seemed to fit in with the rest of the crowd.

Perched at the bar, I sipped my drink and pondered my mission. I'd been given a new flat, slightly less than I was used to admittedly, and a new job. Daniel Green, the owner, manager, etc. of Green's Goods- bad name but good corner store- was an old friend of Harry's and was more than willing to give me a job as a cashier for the duration of the mission. Whenever that would start and end.

When my mission started in earnest was solely up to Jasper. I could flaunt it as much as I wanted but in the end it'd his choice and his choice alone as to whether I'd be accepted into the inner circle.

Someone appeared at my elbow and I looked slightly sideways to see who it was. Alex picked up the beer that had just been set in front of him, dropped some coins onto the counter and left, heading to his table. I fully expected to see Hex seated next to him and was mildly surprised when I caught sight of him in the opposite corner of the room. Then again, it would make sense not to be seen together; it could prove very handy later on.

I'd been sitting and sipping for a good twenty minutes and beginning to get frustrated when a tall, blonde-haired man slipped onto the stool beside me.

'Hi,' he said with a smile. 'I'd buy you a drink, but...' He pointed at my still half-filled glass.

I smiled back, more out of appreciation of my good luck than anything else.

'Jasper Price,' he added, holding his hand out.

I shook it saying, 'Annie Hamilton.'

We'd agreed- or, more accurately Harry had told me- that my name had to be completely changed just in case Jasper was more connected with the centres in Australia than we thought. He'd gone for something that should be easy to remember yet not obviously connected. Amber Middleton, Annie Hamilton.

Jasper's eyebrows had risen when he heard my accent. 'You're American?'

'Yeah. I travelled around up until I started school, then I was at boarding school in New York.'

'How long have you lived here then? Or are you on holiday?' Jasper sipped his beer, all the while keeping his gaze fixed on my face. He was very sure of himself and it was rather disconcerting.

'No, no. I'm not on holiday. I've been living here for about 18 months or so, though I've just moved into the area.

Jasper nodded. 'Ah. I thought you were new around here.' He reached out and touched my cheek and I forced down my shiver, thinking how spot on Harry had got Jasper's personality. 'I would have noticed someone as pretty as you on my patch.

Not really certain on a response, I just smiled again and drunk a bit more of my drink.

The rest of my evening passed in a blur. Wanting a clear head now and a hangover free day tomorrow, I declined any offered alcohol, sticking to soft drinks. Despite my earlier nervousness around Jasper, I found myself becoming more and more comfortable and at ease around him. Jasper sure knew how to turn on the charm and it was hard to imagine him running an illegal business. The fact was, he was just such a nice person. You'd expect- and this was a very stereotypical thought- that criminals would be horrible, evil-minded people without a caring, friendly bone in their body. Jasper was a walking example of how wrong that was.

The mini-fight kicked off at about eleven o'clock. Jasper was still sitting next to me and we were chatting about something or other when this big, beefy guy loomed up next to Jasper. The beefy guy looked at me and muttered something under his breath. I didn't hear it, but Jasper sure did.

'You got a problem, buddy?'

Beefy smirked. 'No, but you sure do.' He looked my way again and I started to assume that his comment might have been slightly prejudice.

'Back off,' Jasper growled. He slid off the stool and took hold of my arm, steering me towards the door. Beefy followed close behind. Half the people in the bar were looking our way now. Hex and Alex looked confused, unsure if I was leaving of my own will or not and debating about intervening.

Beefy made another comment and Jasper stopped walking. He spun around to face Beefy and then it was all a bit hazy. I stepped forwards, intending to pull Jasper away before a fight started, and suddenly I was staggering backwards, clutching my nose with blood streaming through my fingers.

Beefy grinned. 'Oops,' he said, sarcasm positively dripping.

Jasper took advantage of his distraction and smashed a fist into Beefy's side, following it up with a punch to the chest. Beefy collapsed and Jasper kicked his arm out the way, grabbing a pile of serviettes off a table and making his way back to me.

'Here.' He handed me the serviettes which I clamped gratefully on my nose.

Outside, Jasper called a cab and the flow from my nose slowed and then stopped. The cool night air woke me up a bit and helped clear my head. I hopped in the cab feeling slightly better.

Jasper gave me a worried look. 'Are you ok? Do you need-'

'No,' I interrupted, guessing what the rest of his sentence would be. 'I'm fine. Thanks,' I added, stifling a yawn. 'I had a great time, well, apart from the end bit. We should go out again soon.'

This was it. The moment of truth. Would he say yes and give my mission the boost it needed, or would he brush my suggestion off?

'Sure. I'd like that. What's your phone number? Maybe we could have some dinner tomorrow night.'

The cabbie sighed as I rummaged in my handbag for a bit of paper and a pen. After scribbling down the number, I gave the paper to Jasper and pulled my door shut. He waved and stepped back. as the cab pulled away, I looked back and shivered. Jasper was half-hidden in shadows and his eyes seemed as black as coal. He looked very, very dangerous.

My first thought when I woke up the next morning was, Where am I? Then I rolled over and remembered that I was in my new flat. That was when I became aware of a clattering coming from the kitchen. I froze. Someone was in the flat.

Still dressed in my clothes from the night before, I unplugged the lamp and gripped it tightly, making a mental note to buy a baseball bat and tuck it in my wardrobe.

As I tiptoed out of the bedroom and down the hall to the kitchen the clattering stopped. The smell of frying bacon wafted towards me and I hesitated, wondering if burglars usually cooked when on the job.

The phantom clattered suddenly emerged from the kitchen, appearing right in front of me.

'Bloody hell,' I snapped, lowering the lamp from above my head. 'I thought I was being burgled.'

Hex chuckled, not at all concerned I'd nearly brained him with a lamp. 'Do burglars normally cook breakfast for their victims?'

'You have to admit it's a possibility,' I muttered as we walked back into the kitchen.

Hex laughed again and set a plate of food down in front of me. I looked at it suspiciously.

'Just eat,' he sighed, sitting down across from me with his own food. 'I promise you there's no poison in it. Or on it.'

'I wasn't thinking about that,' I admitted, starting to cut my toast.

Hex swallowed his mouthful and looked at me. 'Why the weird face then?'

'I was wondering how you got in here' –I gestured with a fork at the flat's immediate area- 'and why you were cooking.'

Shrugging, Hex answered: 'You left the door unlocked- not a very smart move by the way- and you looked so crap last night I thought I'd drop by and check on you. You were still asleep when I came in, but I figured you'd wake up once you smelt my delicious cooking and beside' –he grinned yet again- 'I was hungry and I can't be bothered shopping.'

I rolled my eyes and didn't answer, concentrating on eating my breakfast. Until recently, Hex- and Li for that matter- appearing uninvited for breakfast, lunch or occasionally dinner wasn't that out of the ordinary. I sighed inwardly. Then we'd gone on that last mission and things were suddenly awkward. Why, I really didn't have much of a clue, though to I think it had something to do with the fact that things were only half, a third, a quarter, out in the open and neither of us was really sure what we wanted to happen.

We ate in silence, the casual atmosphere giving way to the usual awkward one.

'I'll clean up,' I volunteered hastily as soon as I'd finished eating.

Hex shook his head and stood up as well. 'No, it's ok. I cooked.'

'Which is all the more reason I should clean up,' I insisted, plates and cutlery already in my hands.

But Hex wasn't taking no for an answer. 'Well I'll help then.'

I ran the water and squirted some detergent into the sink. The bubbles rose up and I turned the water off, dunking the fingers of my left hand into the water to test the temperature. Perfect.

I washed each item deliberately and slowly, trying to use up as much time as possible, desperate for an escape from another awkward conversation, or worse- an awkward silence. Luckily, just as I finished, the phone rang.

Sliding to a stop, I snagged the phone off the hook and pressed it to my ear.

'Hello?' I said.

'Annie, it's Jasper.'

I sank onto the couch. 'Oh. Hey, Jasper.'

'I didn't wake you up, did I?' he asked worriedly, picking up on the weary tone in my voice.

'No,' I quickly reassured him. 'I've been up for a while. Had breakfast and everything.'

'Good. Listen, I was just double checking we were still having dinner tonight.'

'Of course.' Hex was hovering just in my line of vision and I shifted slightly so I could no longer see him. 'Where did you have in mind? You'd be a better pick at restaurants around here than me.'

'Hmm...' I could hear the sound of rustling paper and, faintly, in the background, a baby crying. 'There's one near the Thames. I've never been there, but it's apparently nice. Good food but still reasonable. Nice setting...'

'Sounds great.'

'So I'll pick you up at six? That ok?' The paper had stopped rustling and the baby wasn't wailing any more. It took me a moment to realise that Jasper was waiting for an answer. 'Annie?'

'Huh? Oh, oops. Sorry. Six is fine.'

'You sure you're ok?'

I sighed, leaning back against the couch. 'Yeah. I've just...got a lot on my mind.'

After hanging up, I stayed sitting on the couch for a few more minutes, aware of how quiet the flat suddenly was.

'Hex?' I called, turning to look at the kitchen. 'Hex?'

No answer.

I got up and wandered into the kitchen. No Hex. The hallway was empty and when I got to the front door I saw only my coat on the coat rack.

'Bye, Amber,' I muttered, feeling a bit annoyed. 'See you later.'

I mooched around for the rest of the day, nipping out after lunch to finish my shopping. The shops made me frustrated and I got home in a bad mood to find Harry had left a message on my answering machine.

'Annie, it's Harry. Just calling to let you know that you shouldn't put defrosted meat in with your vegetables. Can ruin the vegies. Any confusion over this message give me a call. Bye.'

I played the message again before sighing and dialling Harry's number. It only occurred to me then that Harry had called me Annie.

'Explain the message,' I sighed as soon as the phone was picked. 'And why did you call me Annie?'

'I called you Annie because someone could have been listening and the message was a bit vague and cryptic for that reason too.' Harry paused and then continued: 'No more associating with your friends. It's an unnecessary risk. I've explained this to them already, so I want no more face to face discussions and if corresponding by phone or email use cover names- you're Annie, Li is Lottie, Paulo is Paulo- that one's easy- Alex is Andrew and Hex is Henry- and keep it vague and unrelated.'

'Like your message?'

'Like my message,' Harry agreed.

'Why aren't we being vague and unrelated now?' I asked, sneaking a quick glance at the clock. I nearly fell off the couch. Five already!

'Well...' Harry was gearing up for some longwinded spiel. I could feel it in the air.

'Short version, please. I have a date at six.'

Harry sounded surprised as he said, 'With who? I thought I just said before that you weren't to- Oh. Hang on. You have a date with Jasper?'

'Nice to know how much faith you have in me,' I replied, offended.

'How? You met him last night.'

'I just did what you said. He's really confident and' –I searched for the right word and came up blank- 'yeah. But you were answering, in as limited syllables as possible, why we weren't being all Da Vinci Code right now.'

'Da Vinci Code?'

'Just answer the damn question,' I groaned.

'Right. Since you only met Jasper last night I figured that he wouldn't have a had a chance, or need for that matter, to bug your phone.' Harry said the last part quickly, almost as if he was afraid of my reaction.

'He's going to bug my phone?' I spluttered.

'Well the other women he's apparently been involved with all had their phones bugged.'

'But I thought you said here were no witnesses-' My eyes widened. 'Oh,' I finished flatly. 'There were no witnesses because they were all killed, right? And the only reason you know their phones were bugged was when the crime scene was examined.'

'Yeah.' I had to give Harry some credit. He sounded genuinely apologetic. Well, as apologetic as he could sound given the only word he used was yeah.

'Never mind,' I said trying to sound nonchalant and failing miserably. 'My possible death was an easy thing to leave out of the mission briefing.

Harry was starting to get defensive. How dare I even think about bagging his work? 'Now hang on a minute. Your past two missions and, for that matter, every single mission you and your friends did before joining MI5 was dangerous. There's been a chance that you'd be killed every time you dive into fighting something criminal. Yes, this time you're going solo, but you've got not only Li, Hex, Paulo and Alex watching your back but every single officer in this department is keeping an eye out. I've got people following you, making sure you're ok. I've taken every possible precaution so that you'll be exposed to as little risk as possible, but, Amber, some things are out of my hands.'

'Right,' I said slowly after a pause. 'Thanks for clearing that up. Sorry.'

Harry still hadn't cooled down, though I was starting to think he wasn't just annoyed at me. 'Go get ready,' he snapped before hanging up.

I listened to the dial tone, thinking about how final it sounded. All connections severed, you're on your own.

I made sure to keep my expression unchanged as we walked into the restaurant. Apparently it was Li and Paulo's- or should I say Lottie and Paul's- turn to baby-sit. Paulo was standing behind a desk, looking bored, occasionally answering the phone and directing people to their tables. Li flitted about among the tables, taking orders and delivering meals and beverages. Her smile was nowhere near as transparent as the waitress at the café yesterday. It was hard to believe that I'd had breakfast with Li and "got some things off my chest" less than 48 hours before. Blimey things had sure moved fast.

'Reservation for two. Name of Price,' Jasper said coolly when we reached Paulo and his desk.

'Certainly,' Paulo answered with all professionalism. 'Nichola will show you to your table. Have a lovely evening.'

As we followed Nichola to, I understood why Harry had put Alex and Hex in the pub and Li and Paulo in here. It was hard to imagine either Hex or Alex being a waiter or table pointer. An image of Alex wearing the short black dress that the waitresses wore flashed into my mind and I grinned. Jasper saw my grin as we sat down and he raised an eyebrow.

'Why the euphoric face?' he asked.

I shrugged. 'Just happy, I guess.'

Jasper smiled. 'Good. Glad to hear it. I'd be concerned if you weren't happy.'

Li wound her way towards us, pen and notepad at the ready.

'And what are the two of you wanting to eat and drink tonight? Or haven't you decided yet?'

I looked at Jasper. He was scouring the menu with an intensely concentrated look on his face. 'Do you mind what you have, Annie?' he asked, suddenly looking at me.

'No. Why, do you have something to recommend?'

'A mate of mine has been here a couple of times and when I told him we were coming here he said to have the pumpkin soup to start and follow that with the barramundi.'

I smiled and turned to Li. 'Guess I'm having the pumpkin soup and barramundi.'

Li jotted that down while saying, 'And to drink?'

'Just water, thanks,' I said quickly, determined not to be the slightest bit drunk.

'Will sir be having the same?' Li asked looking very proper. I bit my lip and couched to cover my laughter.

'Why not?' Jasper grinned, passing the menus to Li. 'Water for me as well, thank you.'

Li gave a tiny bow and said, 'The drinks will be arriving shortly and your entrees should follow soon after. Enjoy your evening.' She floated off towards the kitchens.

Jasper started and kept the conversation going for most of the night. He asked me question after question and although it seemed like he was just attempting to get to know me better, I knew he was actually checking to see if I was what he deemed to be a trustworthy individual, grilling me over every little detail.

During dessert I decided to risk it.

'So, Jasper,' I started. 'What exactly do you do for a living?'

My question didn't sound suspicious because he'd asked me that not two minutes before and this was the first chance I'd had to ask. He was dealing the cards and I was simply playing them in the right order.

Jasper froze for a split second, forkful of mud cake halfway to his mouth. Then he relaxed and shrugged. 'Business. Fairly boring.'

'What sort of business?' I pressed.

Swallowing the mouthful of cake, Jasper waved his fork around saying vaguely, 'Oh, this and that. Trading, imports, exports, whatever.'

'Do you work for yourself or are you part of a company?'

Jasper frowned. 'Why all the questions?'

'Sorry. Just curious,' I said quickly, dropping my gaze to the tabletop and squashing the, So you can do a great impersonation of the Spanish Inquisition but I can't? that was just screaming to be uttered.

Jasper's expression softened. He reached out, put his hand over mine and murmured, 'It's better if you don't get involved in that.'

Deciding that I'd pushed my luck as far as it was going to go tonight, I didn't answer.

Just seconds later Jasper's phone buzzed softly. He hooked it out of his shirt pocket and answered in a low voice: 'This better be important because I'm- What?!'

The person on the other end must have been speaking because Jasper listened intently for the next minute before snapping the phone shut and sliding it into his pocket again.

Standing up, Jasper shot me an apologetic look. 'You don't mind leaving now, do you? Something's come up.'

'No, it's ok. Don't worry about it.' I stood up as well and added, 'I should be getting home anyway. Work in the morning.' I rolled my eyes.

Jasper chuckled and took hold of my hand. We walked out towards Paulo where Jasper paid and got Paulo to ring for a cab.

Outside, as my cab pulled up, Jasper kissed me.

'I'd really like to see you again,' he murmured with a sigh. 'However, I have no idea when this mess with the business will be sorted out. I will call you though. This isn't some pathetic excuse to brush you off.'

'Sure. I trust you,' I replied, smiling.

There was a flash of something- guilt? -that flickered across Jasper's face before he smiled as well.

'Have fun at work.' He opened my door, waited for me to get in and then shut it again. As the cabbie drove off, I looked back at Jasper just as I had done the night before. The difference this time was I wasn't looking through a bloody haze and Jasper didn't look as dangerous any more.