A/N: Thanks guys, I'm really happy you're enjoying this. Just a few more chapters to go to tie up loose ends, I hope you'll stay with me and keep letting me know what you think!

Chapter 22 – Especially for you

Wheeler strolled into the office, his good mood written all over his face.

Nicolai looked up from his computer and grinned, "Someone had a good night. New girlfriend?"

"Something like that." He laughed, "Where is everyone?"

"Karen is on the school run, Peter and Alexi have already gone out on their inspection, Olga and Jack are in the conference room with Anderson, and Linka called to say that she is running late." Nicolai shrugged.

Trying not to let it show on his face, Wheeler contemplated the way he'd left Linka, wearing his t-shirt, her hair hanging loose around her shoulders and humming to herself as she ironed her suit. He hadn't wanted to leave her but it made sense for him to head in if they wanted to keep their relationship private. "Cool, want some coffee?"

"If you are making it, da," Nicolai returned to his work until Wheeler brought out their drinks but before the American could sit down, Olga came storming in, raging in Russian.

"What's she saying?" Wheeler asked conversationally, perching on the edge of his desk to sip his coffee. He was after all, used to being shouted at in Russian.

Nicolai gave him an amused glance, and explained it all with one word. "Anderson." He then offered his as yet untouched beverage to his furious colleague. "Coffee."

Olga accepted the drink without a word, taking one tentative sip, followed by another and the two men saw her visibly begin to relax. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply allowing the familiar smell to calm her nerves while her male colleagues watched in amusement. Finally she looked at Nicolai and said, "Ya tebyA lyublyU," which made him laugh out loud.

Wheeler frowned, recognising the phrase but finding it somewhat out of context. "What does that mean?"

"Hmm?" Still savouring the coffee Olga didn't understand him at first.

"What you just said, what does it mean?" he repeated.

Nicolai grinned, "She said 'I love you', it does not take much to please her, da?"

Olga glared, oblivious of the way the colour had drained from Wheeler's face, "You try listening to Anderson for half an hour together! You would think that after what happened to Jason at his factory he would be more co-operative, but nyet. It is all him, him, him."

Karen and Linka walked through the door in time to hear Olga's complaint but didn't get a chance to ask for details.

"Linka. Conference Room. Now." Wheeler barked, startling everyone present.

Considerably surprised, seeing as he'd left her in a very good mood, Linka walked over to her desk to put down her things and then followed him into the other room, closing the door behind them.

Olga made a noise of disgust. "I knew it was too good to last."

"Maybe one of us should go in there." Karen mused, "She shouldn't have to deal with that alone."

Nicolai shook his head, "He was in a good mood, I do not think his anger was directed at Linka, it can only be the mention of Anderson that set him off."

"Even so…" Karen frowned, looking at Olga for a second opinion as they had discussed between them the likelihood that their Russian leader had feelings for her partner. "I wouldn't like to see her get hurt."

"Jason would not lay a hand on her." Nicolai stared, "You have known him longer than I, but you cannot think he would do anything to cause her harm."

Karen waved the suggestion away but it was Olga that spoke, "She did not mean physically. Linka is tough but not invulnerable, she does not like him being angry with her. I think in this case however, if Nicolai is right, we should wait and see what their moods are when they return. Linka would not appreciate the interference."

"Alright." The older lady sighed. "We'll wait."

As soon as they were alone, Wheeler turned to his girlfriend and pulled her into his arms. "Oh god, Babe I'm sorry!"

"For yelling at me?" She asked, somewhat irritated by his pre-emptory manner but at the same time concerned enough to not pull away.

"No. Yes… I." He winced, "Sorry about that too, I meant… shit."

Linka wrapped her arms around his waist and moved a little closer, "What is wrong Yankee?"

"Olga just said 'I love you' in Russian, Nicolai translated for me. I was wrong, so wrong… you said it to me. Before. All the time… you even said it once before we were together when you were half asleep." He swallowed. "I didn't know, I swear I didn't know."

The Russian looked up at him frowning. "Why did Olga tell you she loves you?"

Wheeler opened his mouth to answer and then shut it again before giving a small laugh at the way her mind worked. "She didn't say it to me, she said it to Nicolai because he gave her his coffee. Babe…"

Satisfied with his explanation she placed a gentle finger over his lips. "I did not say it in a way you could understand, I did not even know whether I had said it, and certainly if I said it before we were together, I did not mean you to know. This does not change anything."

He kissed her finger and she lowered her hand to slip it back around his waist, leaving him free to bring their lips together. "I'm going to make it up to you." He told her when they parted.

"You do not need to." Her look turned saucy, and she made him laugh. "But I will not object to the attempts."

Since both Wheeler and Linka had returned to their office in a good mood, the American's manner towards his partner was forgotten and they were able to get to work without any further discussion.

Just before lunchtime Tom came down to see them looking like the cat that had got the cream, "I have some wonderful news, I hope none of you have any plans for Easter?"

The team exchanged a few glances but didn't get a chance to answer. "We have been invited to a small conference, international exchange of ideas and all that, but the best thing is that it's going to be held at an exclusive little skiing resort in France… little more central to Europe than here. Anyway, it's all expenses paid with plenty of time to relax and take advantage of the facilities. I hope I can count on you all to attend, though I understand if some of you have family commitments."

He was looking at Karen as he said that but she grinned, "John and the kids are keen to go camping over the long weekend, I guess they'll just have to go without me, since I have to work."

Everyone laughed but when Linka caught her boyfriend's eye she saw a look of apology. They hadn't made any plans but there was no doubt they'd expected a little time alone and now that was looking less likely. She smiled at him and gave a small shrug, hoping that Tom didn't expect her to share a room with the other girls because that would make it very difficult to keep their relationship a secret.

"Can we go to your little Italian restaurant?" Linka asked as they left that evening, "I am not in the mood to cook."

Wheeler put his arm around her, "Sure Babe, there's nothing wrong though is there?"

The smile she gave him then made his heart beat faster. "Nyet, everything is perfect." The Russian slipped her arm around his waist and they walked on together.

"I'm sorry about this conference thing, Tom told me before Christmas they were trying to organise something but it had gone right out of my head." Wheeler sighed, "At least it's a few weeks away."

"It is ok." Linka told him, "We will still be together, and it will be fun, I have not been on Ski's in years."

Wheeler grinned, "Me either, bet I can still beat you down the slopes."

She laughed, remembering their friendly rivalry, "I will take that bet, what do I get if I win?"

"Anything you want." He told her hugging her closer, "Wanna know what I want if I win?" she nodded and he leant closer to whisper in her ear. She blushed.

Linka was spared from answering by their arrival at the restaurant, which was already busy. Wheeler released her to open the door and as she preceded him inside was immediately greeted by a waitress with an apology that there were no tables free. Before they could leave however, they heard their name's being called. It was Olga and Nicolai and they were eager to invite them to join them.

The American cursed under his breath, the last thing he wanted was to share Linka when they'd only been back together for so short a time, but it seemed unavoidable and the waitress ushered them over eagerly, not wanting to lose their custom.

"Are you sure?" Linka asked, "We do not want to intrude."

Their friends were quick to disclaim, and Olga added, "It is not a date, we are all colleagues together it does not make sense to sit at separate tables. Unless the two of you would rather be alone?"

Linka sat down beside her as Wheeler made himself comfortable opposite, next to Nicolai, and deliberately misunderstood, "We do not have anything confidential to discuss, though we were going to go over the renovations for the toy company."

Another waitress came over to take their orders but after she left Wheeler changed the subject by asking, "So do the two of you like skiing?"

Hours later when the two ex-planeteers finally made it back to their flat, Wheeler pulled Linka into his arms, buried his face in her neck and breathed a sigh of relief. The lovely Russian snuggled into him but laughed softly, "Was it that bad?"

"Not being able to hold you all day? Yeah!" He placed a brief kiss on her lips before finally allowing her to take her coat off and leading her over to the settee to get comfortable again.

"I am sorry I suggested going out to dinner." Linka said, resting her head on his shoulder, "I was not planning on it being a team outing."

Wheeler laughed, "It's ok. It was fun. Any other time, I might have suggested it."

It was true that they'd both enjoyed the evening, laughing and joking with Olga and Nicolai and avoiding talking about work. The only thing that had marred it was their resolution to keep their relationship a secret. They had had to be careful how they looked at each other and avoid touching, and while they did that every day at work, somehow it had been harder in the more relaxed setting.

"Da, I would like to do it again." Linka agreed, "But not when I am wanting to be alone with you… and I do not like lying to them. I still think it is necessary, but I do not like it."

"Yeah…" Wheeler pressed his lips to her forehead, "Well let's give it a few months, give ourselves a chance to get used to being together again, then we can tell them if you want."

She smiled up at him and then reached up to kiss him, relaxing against him as the kiss deepened. When they parted Wheeler asked, "Do you want to go out somewhere tomorrow? I mean like a proper date, preferably somewhere we're not likely to run into anyone we know."

"That sounds nice." She chuckled, "Did you have something in mind?"

He shrugged, "There's a few places with a restaurant and a dance floor, I figured we could try out one of those?"

"I would like that Yankee moy," she approved.

"Good… soooo," He gave her a cheeky grin, "Do you have anything you need to do tonight? Work, ironing… anything like that?"

Linka smiled, guessing the way the conversation was going, "Nyet I did that all this morning, and…" She hesitated but only briefly, "I moved my things back into your bedroom too, I hope that was ok?"

"Of course it's ok!" he hugged her tight, beaming at her the whole time, "It's better than ok, and it's not my bedroom now, it's our bedroom, the way it always should have been."

"Are you sure?" Her cheeks warmed, "Because we slept together before but we were never really 'living together' we still had our own cabins and I do not want you to feel like I am pushing you into anything, it is just that I have so little here that it seems silly to keep it in another room but…"

He kissed her again to silence her, finally saying, "I love you. I want to live with you. I don't think it really occurred to me back home that there was a difference between what we were doing and living together, I mean it's not like anyone else was going to take over one of our cabins, it would still have been ours, why try and squash all our stuff into one?"

She nodded, "I suppose it is the same with the spare room."

"No… that's different." Wheeler struggled to explain, "This is our home now, it's yours as much as it is mine… if you want to change anything you should go ahead or if you'd rather we move and pick a new place together, that's ok too."

"I love you." Linka kissed him softly, "I do not need to move, I am happy here. I do not want to change anything either, although I would like to add a bookcase."

Wheeler grinned, happy that she was ready to make it her home, "You could get some of your other stuff over from Russia too?"

Linka nodded, "I do not have that much but what I have is in storage, I could probably get it shipped."

"That's settled then, come on." He stood up suddenly and held his hand out to her. "We have a long day tomorrow, I think we should get an early night, don't you?"

"Da." She agreed laughing, letting him pull her up, and following him to their bedroom, "And I think we should get some sleep too."