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Nina reached up and kissed Philip full on the lips because she could, because she wanted to, because she had in the past. Theirs had been a long association as they waded through bureaucracy and wars and the Pattern. They agreed to disagree. They agreed to tell each other a lot but not everything. Nina rather liked Philip. He was no-nonsense, sure of himself, and a bulldog when it came to getting shit done. She swore that the man had more lives than a cat and more luck than a bowl of lucky charms.
So, when she kissed him, it was to reassure him, to ease that worried look in his eyes that she thought only she could see. She kissed him to tell him that she had complete faith in his abilities to do what he did best. More than anything else, Nina knew that Philip was a soldier, so was she for that matter. Nina believed in Massive Dynamic and she believed in what they did there even if what they did sometimes skirted and leapt over some very strict ethical boundaries. There was a war coming and in a war, anything was game, which brought her back to Philip. As she walked down the steps, she knew that they would meet later that night at "their" bar in DC. They had a bar in just about every major city and when they met, they talked business but it was also flirting and what's more, they enjoyed it.
Nina wasn't surprised when Philip slid into the booth at half ten. She had a scotch – neat – waiting for him. Their bars always had good scotch.
Philip took a sip of scotch. Nina watched him, her eyes open and inviting. She didn't have to wait long.
"For once, it wasn't me that saved the day. Young Bishop gave me the broken transformation device as leverage."
Nina's eyes widened slightly, but a slow smile graced her lips. She sipped from her own glass, then, "He is quite surprising, isn't he? And how is Olivia?"
Philip read between the lines, "She doesn't remember anything."
Nina frowned slightly and then appeared lost in thought for a moment, "Well, that is problematic. I may have someone who can help her. Oh don't give me that look Philip. It won't be anyone dangerous. Do you remember Sam?"
Philip smiled that wry smile of his, the one that she enjoyed, and they both knew it, "Ah yes, Mr. Weiss. He'll have to be feisty to break through her barriers. Are you sure he is up for the job?"
"Of that I have no doubt" murmured Nina.
Philip pulled the broken transformation device out of his pocket and casually slid it across the table. Just as casually, Nina slipped it into her purse. "I'll see to it that this one joins the others as we continue to analyze them."
They sipped their scotch.
Philip assessed Nina just as he assessed everything and everyone around him all of the time: intensely. He rarely let his guard down and even with Nina, he was aware of the secrets within secrets, the lies, and the rabbit holes. Yet, he couldn't help but notice how the dim light glinted off her auburn hair or how she casually held the glass of scotch in the grip of her robotic arm. If she chose, she could crush a man's hand with that hand and yet he had firsthand experience at how gentle that hand could be, especially on tender parts. Nina was all woman, but so much more than that. A small smile graced his lips. Yes, she was so much more than a woman. She was a cyborg. She was the future in so many ways and yet when you boiled it all down, she was a woman, and a beautiful one at that. In this moment, he knew he was going to take her back to her hotel and they were going to let out all the stress and fear that had accumulated in the last 48 hours. Somehow, they managed to do this frequently after major crisis. A transforming body full of spikes? A woman that melted other people's brains? That was not a major crisis. Fringe division being shut down or one of them being shot? Now that was a major crisis. He understood why they did this. He got the whole body response to fight or flight. They were both soldiers. There wasn't a soldier alive who didn't understand the hormones and psychological need to reassure one's self that you were still alive after a pretty harrowing experience.
They finished their scotch. They chatted about the banal inanities of life, of their jobs, speaking in catch phrases and codewords. They both knew what was coming. She paid the bill, on scotch that expensive, she always paid. She could afford it and they both knew that the government didn't pay him nearly enough for what he did. She had tried to woo him away from the government more times than they could both count and yet he remained dedicated and loyal. She liked that about him. He guided her out the door, his hand at the small of her back. The limo was waiting for them.
As Philip lay on the bed, the sweat drying from their hasty tryst, he reflected that they always landed up at her hotel, but that wasn't a bad thing. His hotels were paid for by the government. They were nice, but not nearly as nice as the Ritz, which is where they were now. Tomorrow would bring a new day. Nina would give Olivia Sam's name, Sam would help Olivia get her memories and her confidence back, the weird would continue to fall into their laps and they would continue to try and figure it out. He could feel timelines and plans being accelerated, it made him nervous.
"Stop thinking Philip. You are trying to ruin a perfectly sated post-coital nap" Nina somewhat sleepily reprimanded from where she lay on his chest. "What will be, will be. We know part of what is coming. It's going to be hard but our protégé's will pull through. They must."
Philip sighed, "You are right."
They settled themselves a little more firmly against each other and slept, cell phones and guns never more than a half an arm's reach away.