In hindsight, being that they'd been handcuffed together for less than an hour, the action felt silly. For a short time it had served to keep her team feeling safe from the danger Moriarty's presence was believed to cause. However, knowing that she was the real reason the fictional had agreed to help out the librarians made Eve feel ashamed. Explaining the truth would have been a far more useful solution long term. Flynn had been so convinced that she was still under an enchantment though that at the time she doubted it would have worked.

As soon as the full extent of Prospero's plan had been discovered it made more sense to remove the handcuffs. Moriarty was suddenly a valued asset to the team and she had her own preparations to make that required a full range of body movements. Still, she wanted him as close as possible and it made sense that when it became required to don Elizabethan clothing they were alone together in her office changing.

However, what was supposed to be two separate entities acting in the same space had immediately turned into something different. She'd helped him out of his suit jacket and somehow this had led to them undressing each other. There was something incredibly intimate and comforting about the simple act of touching his bare skin. His body was warm and even though he was still very much a fictional, he was alive and his body felt strong and solid beneath her hands. In another time or situation their actions could have very easily turned into something more carnal, but both knew it wasn't the right moment.

Instead, undressing turned into redressing each other in different clothes. Instead of choosing an outfit that was normal for a woman of the Elizabethan era, Eve had chosen the clothes of a male peasant. A dress afforded her only a fraction of the mobility she wanted and there was no way she felt she'd look even partially decent in the clothes of a male nobleman. Moriarty however had chosen to wear a nobleman's clothes, and not surprisingly he wore them as if he'd been born to do so.

Just as Eve was finishing with the last button on Moriarty's vest Flynn opened the door and popped his head in. "Am I interrupting something?" When neither person responded he gave them a strange look and added "I feel like I'm interrupting something...anyway, Jenkins wanted me to tell you, meaning Eve mostly, that he's about to fire up the door."

When Flynn lingered in the doorway, watching them for a second after he'd finished his message Eve turned to him confused. "Need something else Flynn?"

"No, I just thought you know, handcuffs again. For him...and you. Not in a weird way of course. Just as a safety measure." Flynn stopped speaking ,when the pair continued to just stare at him blankly, and retreated back into the main area of the annex.

As soon as he'd left, Moriarty gave her one of the filthiest smiles she'd ever seen. "Are you sure you don't want to cuff me again Duchess? Aren't you afraid I might wander off?"

His tone of voice made Eve's face almost flush again, but she tried to hide how she felt, instead choosing to try to give herself the upper hand by leaning close to him and whispering "we stop Prospero first, and then MAYBE you can see the handcuffs again," before walking out to face her team with the fictional following close behind.

xxx

After the further extent of Prospero's plan had been revealed Moriarty had suddenly become useful to the LITs. However, it didn't take much for him to realize that to them his importance was a temporary means to an end and not a sign that they wanted him there. Still, every time he found himself wanting to revert to his old ways that had become so natural he instead thought of Eve and how it would all reflect badly on her as well.

That was why instead of immediately taking to the streets to find Prospero on his own he was sitting in an Elizabethan pub watching as Flynn Carsen shoveled something that barely passed for food into his mouth while he outlined the "perfect" plan.

"First, Cassandra will disguise as a beggar woman and intercept a mail delivery cart. Then, while she's distracting the driver, Ezekiel checks the cart to see if Prospero has any mail marked to him. Once we have the address from the mail I'll go and knock on his door. When he comes outside to see who knocked Jake is going to sneak up behind him and hit him over the head hopefully knocking him unconscious. Then we take him back inside, search him, find the staff of power and figure out how to banish him. Any questions?"

Moriarty heard himself let out a long annoyed breath.

In response, Jake Stone immediately turned to stare at him. "If you think you have something better, by all means let us in on it."

Instead of responding, Moriarty got up from his seat and walked away from the group towards the pub owner. The man was about the same height and build as him, but his face bore an obvious Glasgow smile that made Moriarty think of henchmen and gang fights. However, Moriarty wasn't looking to recruit a henchman. Instead, he thought the man would be useful for a far more practical measure. As soon as the man had written down the piece of information he wanted, he returned to the table and slid the paper towards Flynn.

"220 Dorset Street...what's so special about 220 Dorset Street?" the other man asked sliding the paper back towards him.

"I believe you'll find Prospero at the address the owner of this questionable establishment has supplied me with."

"Ahh, but what if the address is wrong? " Flynn responded.

"I assure you it isn't wrong." Moriarty growled in response, becoming annoyed.

"But what if it is?" instead of speaking directly to Moriarty, Flynn turned towards the others "as a criminal wouldn't it be in his best interest to deceive us so that he can find Prospero and the staff of power himself?"

"Former criminal." Moriarty retorted, leaning across the table towards Flynn, wanting to give into his impulses to slap or punch the other man for refusing to believe him.

In response Flynn stood up and leaned across the table from his side until the two men were mere inches apart.

However before the fight could go further, Moriarty was pulled backwards by a hard tug at the back of his vest as Cassandra grabbed Flynn at the same time.

Once both men were seated again Eve let go of his vest and moved to where she was in view of both of them. "Either you two work together or the handcuffs are going to make an appearance again and it won't be a pleasant one!"