The hours seemed to pass by slowly for Tanner's liking, he was dreading this meeting, it could only end badly in the wrong run. He had phoned Q to tell him to have two ear pieces and a mic ready for this afternoon. Q never questioned why for which he was thankful. He had moved some of his things into Olivia's office to keep an eye on Jean before she decides to agree to anything else she didn't know how to handle.

"Tell me Tanner, how long have you been Olivia's Chief of Staff?"

"Going on seven years." He looked up from his laptop.

"And you are still managing to put up with Olivia? I admire you for that."

"She's good at what she does. I can't imagine working under someone else."

Jean smiled, "She will be pleased to hear that. So, tell me a little about yourself. Married, fiancé, girlfriend?"

Tanner shook his head, "No."

"Boyfriend then perhaps?"

"No. There is no boyfriend either Jean."

'I have no idea why? A fine looking man like you. Women and men should be throwing themselves at you."

Tanner felt himself blush at her statement. "What about you? Olivia never did tell me much."

"I'm married to Lionel, and I have a daughter called Judy. The two of you would no doubt get along quite nicely."

Tanner could see the cogs turning in her head and didn't know whether to be amused, or slightly scared at what she was thinking.

"Tell me about Lionel. How did the two of you meet?"

He saw the fond look on her face, no doubt thinking back to that day. He could feel his eyes widening as she told him from their first meeting, to when Lionel was sent to Kenya and how they met many years later before finally deciding to get married. To Tanner it sounded as if they were soul mates. He had never believed in such things, but he couldn't find any other explanation for the two of them finding each other after all those years.

"Oh, I have a picture." Jean reached into her bag and pulled out her purse and handed him the small photo.

"Is everything alright Tanner?"

"He just looks like someone, I know." Tanner smiled handing it back to her.

"Really? Who?"

He debated with himself whether to show her, but seeing the curiosity on her face made his decision for him. He quickly typed the name of the person he was trying to find. Once finding his details he brought up his photo and handed her the laptop.

"Jean, meet Admiral Roebuck."

"Oh my God. Please tell me this is a joke."

"Afraid not. He and Olivia have came to blows a few times on certain political matters."

"Let me guess, easily annoyed? Grumpy? Never happy with anything?"

"Pretty much."

"Sounds like Lionel as well." She handed the laptop back over to him.

"You don't think it's Lionel's long lost twin do you?"

"I doubt it Jean."

"Worth a thought."

"Quite, but it looks like that thought will have to wait. We had best get you ready for this meeting."

Tanner noticed her face had turned a shade lighter, but there was also determination.

"Alright. Let's get this over with."

/*\*/*\

James looked at Olivia from the corner of his eye every now and again, knowing she was thinking about Jean back at the office. It took him enough convincing to get her into the car, so they could go to their destination. They had been driving for about two hours and the only sound he heard from her was when she had asked him to slow down as he went slightly over the speed limit.

"Relax Olivia, she's fine. Tanner is with her."

"She had better be James. This full situation isn't sitting right with me." She looked away from the window to stare at him unamused.

"You need to trust her. She's only going to be looking through files, nothing more."

"You may be right, but if I know Jean, those stories she likes to make up could land her in trouble."

"Well, I have to agree with you on that. But Tanner will keep an eye on her."

"I know." She gave him a diminutive smile.

"Which reminds me, you still haven't told me where it is we are going." She raised an eyebrow waiting for an answer.

"It's a surprise. And before you say it, if Jean needs us we can get back quickly. We'll be arriving in another hour."

"Thank God for that. These seats really are uncomfortable." She moved in her seat as much as her seatbelt would allow.

"They aren't that bad Olivia."

"Speak for yourself. Women my age like to have some comfort while traveling."

"Women your age?"

"You know ol…"

"If you finish that sentence that eject button will be getting pressed."

She gave a scoff. "I thought you would have learned from the first time, that threat no longer works on me James. Besides, you would miss me, and that ring you bought would go to waste."

"No idea what you mean." He kept his attention on the road refusing to look at her, knowing she was sitting there with a smug look.

"Sure you don't James." She looked back out the window trying not to think about how Jean was coping. Perhaps James was right and she was worrying over nothing.

/*\*/*\

Jean and Tanner were on their way to Whitehall, after Jean had told Q that she needed the mic and earpiece, because she suspected the minister of misconduct, and if he could keep her suspicions to himself. Q being Q gave her a sceptical look and didn't question further. Tanner felt like banging his head against a wall. If Jean kept these stories up, it would no doubt end badly for all of them.

"You know I've always wanted to see the inside of Whitehall." Jean whispered so Ross couldn't hear them.

"You're not missing much."

"Still- Lionel will probably have a field day."

Tanner had no doubt about it. "Remember what we discussed."

"I'll say word for word what you dictate to me."

"And?"

"Not to tell any more stories or white lies."

"Good. That's good." Tanner told her relieved.

Jean gave him an unimpressed look that Tanner ignored. It wasn't as if she told the lies on purpose. It was either tell lies or everyone finds out that she isn't who they think she is. And in her opinion that would be worse to deal with than anything she told them. If anything she was doing them a favour, in a way.

The car pulled up outside Whitehall, and Jean felt her nervousness grow as she looked at the building. This was worse than any meeting she had to attend for her secretarial job, at least she knew they were similar to her in that respect, but this was something else. If she messed this up, it would be Olivia's job on the line not hers which didn't exactly help her matters any.

"You'll be fine Jean. If you stick to the plan, then nothing will go wrong. I'll come in after ten minutes, stating there is an emergency and you are needed back at headquarters."

"And, I'll inform him that we need to reschedule the meeting for a later date." Jean finished.

"Precisely."

Jean took a deep breath, wanting to get this over with as quickly as possible.

"Oh, and one more thing. You need to act like Olivia."

"Yes, I'm fully aware of that Tanner. No need to remind me."

Tanner watched as she got out of the car and tried not to smile. Perhaps it wouldn't be as bad as he originally thought.