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English
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Part 4 of Spy AU
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Published:
2016-03-08
Updated:
2016-03-08
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5,162
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1/?
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Suffer Love Indeed

Summary:

A collection of drabbles from the spy AU

Chapter 1: Four Times Freddie and Kit Almost Got Caught (And The One Time They Did)

Chapter Text

1.

They stayed like that, kissing on his doorstep, for what could’ve been a few minutes or a few hours. Freddie wasn’t sure how long it had been - all she knew was that once she’d started, she never wanted to stop.  

“Kit?” His roommate’s voice drifted out, calling from upstairs, and Freddie froze in Kit’s arms, paralyzed with fear. She recognized that voice. But… that didn’t make any sense. “Are you okay? It’s like, two in the morning.” 

Peter is your flatmate?” She hissed through her teeth, pulling away from him immediately, her shock evident.

“I’m okay, Peter,” Kit called over his shoulder, “I just heard some… some, uh…. some raccoons or something.”

Freddie started laughing so hard, she had to bury her face in his shoulder.

Raccoons?” She whispered, disbelieving. “That’s the best you can do?”

Raccoons?” Peter repeated. “But… we don’t have raccoons in New Zealand!”

They could hear him begin to descend the stairs, and Freddie’s eyes widened, panic setting in. She practically dove off the doorstep, colliding with the trash cans, landing flat on her ass. Kit was doubled over, shoulders shaking with silent laughter, bracing his hands on his knees to keep upright.

“What the hell is going on out here?” Peter poked out of the doorway, frowning at Kit. “What is happening with you, bro?”

Freddie was trying desperately to make herself as small as possible and remain hidden in the dark, attempting to move into a crouching position – but she stepped on a soda can by mistake, crushing it beneath her foot. Peter turned her way immediately, squinting to see in the dark.

Freddie?” He frowned. “What the hell are you doing here? And why are you in our trash? Kit, did you know she was here?”

“What?” Kit snapped to attention, doing his best not to seem suspicious. “No, I just heard a noise and came out to see what it was. Freddie, what’s going on?”

“There was a… work issue!” She said, thinking quickly, “A problem at work. I was coming to get Kitso, because he’s the spy who lives the closest. I didn’t realize he also lived with you. And then on my way up to the door, I got scared by a… bug…? And fell into the trash!”

“Why didn’t you just call me?” Peter asked. “I would’ve come right over.”

“Yeah, that’s what I was going to do, at first,” Freddie nodded, “definitely my first instinct. Work emergency, call my co-leader. That makes sense. But then it occurred to me that this could take all night, and it’s not a super big deal, only takes two to handle, really, and I thought it was better to let you get your rest so at least one of us is awake and alert at work tomorrow. No sense in having two sleepy leaders, right? That’s no way to run an organization!”

“I… guess that makes sense,” Peter agreed slowly, a puzzled look on his face. 

“And, again, I had no idea you lived with Kitso,” Freddie went on. “I mean, with Agent Harper.  I cannot express to you how surprised I am to find out that you live with Agent Harper.”

“Oh, yeah, well I was living with some other people when I first got hired,” Kit explained, “but our flat was way across town, and the commute was kind of hellish, and we didn’t get along too well anyway, and I mentioned it to Peter, and he offered to let me stay with him until I could find a closer place.”

“I see,” Freddie said, shooting him a look, “funny that you never mentioned that before.” 

“So can I go to bed?” Peter yawned, rubbing at his eyes.

“Yeah, I got this,” Kit assured him, “get some rest.”

“See you in the morning, Freddie,” He waved before shuffling back into the flat, door closing behind him. Once he was gone, Freddie smacked Kit’s arm, her mouth agape.

“What the hell, Kitso! Why didn’t you tell me Peter was your flatmate?! We could’ve gotten in so much trouble!” She crossed her arms, annoyed. “This whole thing could’ve ended before it even had a chance to really start.”

“I’m sorry,” Kit apologized, laying a hand on her shoulder, “Really, I am. It’s just – you showed up on my doorstep at two in the morning to tell me you wanted to be with me, and then we were kissing, and any thoughts of ‘by the way I live with the other boss’ kind of flew out of my head.”

“You’re dating one of your bosses and living with another,” Freddie had to laugh, dropping her head into her hands. “God, this is unethical on so many levels.”

“Does that mean you’ve changed your mind?” Kit let his hand fall away from her shoulder, taking a step back.

“What?” Freddie’s face filled with surprise, shaking her head. “Kit, no. Never.” 

“Good,” he smiled, his relief obvious. “I was hoping you didn’t. So that work emergency…”

“Right,” She nodded, smiling now too, “the work emergency. Weirdly enough, it’s at my house. And it’s an incredibly time-sensitive matter.”

“Sounds pretty hands-on,” Kit said seriously, lacing his fingers with hers and leading her out into the street. 

“It could take hours,” She warned, bumping her shoulder against his.

“That’s alright,” He said, pressing a kiss to her temple. “I’m committed to it.” 

 

2. 

Missions almost never went according to plan. It didn’t didn’t matter if you’d worked late nights, taken every possible problem into account, or trained tirelessly for weeks - something was bound to go awry.

Kit knew it bothered Freddie. For all the preparation she had the spies do before missions, once she sent them off into the field she was completely out of control. She told him she’d learned to deal with it, it was why she wasn’t usually on the coms during missions. Still, he knew she tended to spend a lot of time sorting old case files in the archives whenever he went out on assignment. Those were the times he understood, more than any other, why bosses weren’t supposed to have romantic relationships with their employees.

“It’s just an occupational hazard,” he’d told her one day, after he’d come back to base with a nasty cut down his arm.

“Our whole life is an occupational hazard,” she’d grumbled.

He and Rosa were a good team though; their track record was one of the best at MESSINA. She was vicious in combat, he had a steady hand and a gift for subtlety, together they could complete assignments like nobody else.

Usually.

But missions almost never went according to plan, and when things went wrong… they went wrong .

He and Rosa had been at a seedy bar, trying to observe a group of suspected drug traffickers. Kit had managed to overhear a few key names, enough to give them a good head start back at base, when Rosa’s voice crackled in his ear.

Agent Harper, get out of there, we’ve been compromised. There is an imminent bomb threat to the building.

So much for subtlety.

Kit had bounced to his feet, running to the nearest door and pulling the fire alarm on his way out – to minimize civilian casualties. 

He really thought he’d run far enough by the time the bomb actually exploded, but apparently he’d been wrong.

The next thing he knew, Rosa was shaking him frantically by the shoulders.

“Kit!” she gasped as he opened his eyes. “Oh, thank god.” She pressed a button on her communicator, still breathing heavily. “Agent Jones to MESSINA, I found him. Looks like he’s got minor bruises, he was knocked out, but nothing life threatening. His communicator…” She glanced down at the device on his wrist; the screen was cracked into a million tiny slivers. “His communicator’s busted, that’s why we couldn’t track him.”

Copy that Agent Jones, make sure he’s alright and then get yourselves out of that area as quickly as you can.”

Kit pushed himself up, his head still fuzzy. Was that… Freddie’s voice on the communicator?

“On our way, boss,” Rosa said, offering Kit a hand, which he took gratefully. “You are okay, right? Nothing broken?”

“Not that I can feel,” he shrugged, brushing dirt off his sleeve, “massive headache though.”

“You don’t get to talk to me about massive headaches,” she rolled her eyes, pulling him in the direction of their car, “I’m already thinking about all the forms we’re gonna have to fill out about this.”

It was a five-hour drive back to MESSINA headquarters, and Kitso spent most of it thinking about Freddie. He couldn’t call her without a work-related reason, Rosa would think it was suspicious, and he had no other way to tell her he was alright. He knew she’d heard everything from Rosa, but if she’d been scared enough to get on the coms…

He just wanted to tell her in person.

Kit’s wish was granted the second they stepped into MESSINA’s office. Freddie was waiting for them, arms crossed, a scowl set on her beautiful face.

“You’re back,” she said, “Agent Harper, I need to speak with you in my office.”

What?” Rosa frowned too, “Boss, it wasn’t his–”

“I don’t remember asking you, Agent Jones,” she snapped. Rosa backed up, momentarily beyond words. “Agent Harper? My office.”

“It’s okay Rosa,” Kit said, giving her a quick pat on the shoulder, “really.”

He followed Freddie out past the break room, up a flight of stairs and finally into her office, their pace quickening the closer they got to their destination.

The second her office door clicked shut behind them, Freddie made a move. She pushed Kit back against the door, arms winding tightly around his neck as she pulled herself up to kiss him deeply. He responded in kind, bringing his hands to her cheeks, his fingers tangling in her hair. God , it was good to see her.

“I was so scared,” she breathed between kisses, “Kitso, I thought…” her eyes were searching every inch of his face, double and triple checking that he was really there.

“I’m fine,” he mumbled, bending down to press his lips against the base of her neck, “it’s just an occupational hazard, remember?”

She sighed, clutching at his collar as he held her, his hands playing at the hem of her shirt. He was so happy to be with her again, to be back at base where he knew he was safe..

Suddenly, Kit felt a jolt against his back. He let Freddie go as the door behind him sprung open, and Rosa burst into the office.

“I’m sorry Freddie, but I can’t let you blame Kit for this,” she insisted, seemingly oblivious to Freddie’s panicked expression as she fumbled to re-do the top button on her shirt. “The two of us did everything we could have to get this mission right; it was forces beyond our control that screwed everything up, and Kitso got some information so technically we still completed the assignment, and I don’t see why–”

“Rosa,” Kitso put a hand on her shoulder, “it’s fine, I’m not in trouble.”

“Well sure, but you…” she began, but then his words reached her. “You’re not in trouble?”

“Agent Jones,” Freddie said, sternly, and they both turned in her direction. She looked completely professional again; Kit had to admire how quickly she could shift her outward demeanor. “I would appreciate it if you could knock , in the future. I’ll call you in for your debriefing as soon as I am ready for you. Are we clear ?”

“I… you…” Rosa sputtered, apparently at a loss for words. She shot Kit a questioning look, but he just nodded slowly, and her shoulders sank. “Fine. I’ll be outside.”

She walked reluctantly back out of the office, slamming the door behind her as she went. The two of them stared after her for a moment, listening to the click of her heels down the hallway.

Then Kit leaned over, carefully clicking the lock into place.

“Thank god,” Freddie sighed, slipping off her jacket and tossing it onto her office chair, “that was close.”

“I can’t believe we forgot to lock the door,” Kit grinned, reaching for her hands, “amateur move.”

“Like we’ve never even done this before,” Freddie smiled back, taking hold of the edge of his sweater and tugging it over his head. He could tell they were both trying to stifle their giggles, but it was hard. It felt good to be back together.

“Hey,” Kit said, pressing his forehead up against hers, “I’m sorry I scared you.”

“It’s not your fault,” she sighed, wrapping her arms around his waist, “things happen, bombs explode, that’s the life of a spy.”

“I’m just lucky my life includes you,” he said, leaning in to kiss her again, appreciating the warmth of her skin under his hands. She smiled, pulling away after a minute to gaze at him.

“That,” she whispered, “is a definite perk.”

 

3.

She blamed the higher ups, really.

It started when Meg and Rosa discovered that two seemingly unrelated cases (a dangerous hit man and a corrupt politician) were actually very much connected. It changed the situation entirely, and it sent MESSINA into a flurry of activity. Everyone was working overtime, poring over case reports and reviewing all the files for clues and evidence they might’ve missed before.

Freddie had been operating in full Crisis Mode ever since.

She was barely leaving the office, and whenever she did go home, she brought work with her. She’d been sleeping in twenty minute bursts, nodding off accidentally at the table or on the couch, pen still in her hand, sending massive black lines down the center of her page and forcing her to start all over. There was so much paperwork to go through, so much stress on her hands, she barely had time to see Kit all week.

But by far the worst were the frantic phone calls with the higher ups, who were checking in every few hours to breathe down her neck, hounding her for results. No matter how many times Freddie told them “I really have nothing else to report” or “I promise I’ll call you when we find something new,” they refused to leave her alone.

By the end of the week, it was becoming apparent that she was losing steam. There were bags under her eyes, she was dragging her feet – the usual snap in her step as she walked down the halls was all but gone.

“Kitso,” She said tiredly, crossing over to his desk in the middle of the crowded office, “can you go up to the archives and pull all the relevant files from 2014 for me? There should be at least three.”

“Yeah, of course,” He nodded, “I’ll get right on that.”

“Thanks,” she said gratefully, leaning in to kiss his cheek, “you’re the best.”

Her lips made contact with his skin, and she felt him freeze up at the touch. She went completely stiff, realization dawning on her.

She had ruined it.

All those months of working to keep their relationship a secret, and she’d ruined it because she was tired? She hadn’t been able to see him all week, and she just missed him so much…

They’d had some close calls before, but this? This took the cake. It would be nearly impossible to recover from this one, and she had no idea how to even begin to try.

“What the hell?”

It was Rosa who broke the silence. Freddie glanced around the room, her lips still awkwardly hovering near Kit’s cheek. Peter was frowning, thoroughly confused. Rosa wrinkled her nose, looking more disgusted than surprised. Meg was giving them an appraising look, the beginnings of a smile tugging at her lips.

“Um,” Freddie blinked. Think, Kingston. Think. “It’s… a new thing I’m trying. I learned it a European leadership seminar. On… boosting office morale.” Everyone stared at her blankly, but she was on a roll. “It’s positive reinforcement. Making sure all the employees know that their hard work is appreciated, that sort of thing.”

Kit didn’t say a word. Freddie saw his shoulders tense, and had to focus her gaze elsewhere. She was sure if she met his eyes, her expression would give everything away.

She took a deep breath, bracing herself for the team’s response – there was no way anyone was going to believe her. So much for her prestigious job; she’d be fired within the hour.

“You’ve got to start inviting me to these seminar things, Freddie,” Peter complained. “I’m the leader, too.”

Freddie stared at him for a moment, her fists still clenched by her sides. Then she exhaled, relieved, as her brain finally caught up. He bought it.

“So sorry,” She apologized, approaching him. Her eyes flickered over to Kit, who shrugged. She was committed to the lie now, no turning back. “Thanks for the hard work.” She gave Peter’s shoulder an awkward pat, then leaned in and kissed his cheek. “You’re the best.”

“Um,” Peter fidgeted. “You’re welcome? Or... thank you?”

“I think they said the appropriate reaction would be to act like it didn’t happen,” Freddie invented, wildly.

“Ahem,” Meg said, and Freddie turned to look at her. She tilted her head, offering her cheek up happily. She gave a resigned sigh, walking to Meg’s desk, bending to kiss her as well.

“Thank you for your hard work,” She said, “you’re the best.”

Meg beamed.

“You’re right, Freddie. This really does boost my morale!”

“I’m so… glad…” Freddie replied, voice strained. She glanced over at Rosa, who was wincing, and made her way towards her.

“You really don’t have to do this, boss,” Rosa said, squeezing her eyes shut in anticipation.

“Oh, no… I really do.” Freddie leaned forward, pecking her quickly on the cheek and following it up with the same awkward pat she’d given Peter and Meg. “Thanks for the hard work. You’re the best.”

“Should one of us kiss you on the cheek?” Meg asked. “You deserve a morale boost, too.”

“No, no, that’s fine,” Freddie said quickly, and she heard Kit laugh. He was probably having the time of his life, watching her struggle through these interactions. “I think maybe kissing each other is not the right tool for positive reinforcement in the workplace. It was an interesting experiment, but… let’s never do that again.”

“Agreed,” Rosa grimaced, “that was more intimate than I ever care to be with you, Freddie. No offense.”

“I will be in my office if anyone needs me,” Freddie went on, “but please don’t come talk to me unless it’s an emergency because to be honest, I don’t think I can look any of you in the eye for at least a few hours.”

She had never scurried out of a room faster in her life.

Later, when Freddie sat in her office, on yet another conference call with the higher ups, there was a knock at her door.

“Hey boss,” Rosa whispered, seeing Freddie with the phone to her ear, “Kit asked me to bring you these. Relevant files from 2014, or something.”

Freddie mouthed “thank you ” and Rosa nodded curtly, walking out of the room without a backwards glance.

She really couldn’t blame Kitso for not bringing her the files himself. They’d had a close call today, no thanks to her, so it was probably best for him to keep his distance. Still, she would have liked to see him. The case was finally starting to wind down, and they both knew her office door locked…

Freddie set down the receiver with a click, taking a long, deep breath before reaching for the case files. Bad guys weren’t going to catch themselves, after all.

As she flipped open the first folder, something fell out onto her desk. It was a small piece of folded green paper no bigger than a post it note, addressed to Freds.

A smile spread across Freddie’s as she opened it, feeling a warmth grow in her chest as she skimmed the words written there -

 

I was thinking about making pizza tonight - very European.

That seminar you mentioned sounded interesting, I’d love to hear more about it.

Can we arrange a business meeting at your place, say, 8pm?

All the best,

Agent Harper

 

4. 

Freddie was so focused on Kitso, tangled up in her bed sheets with his hands sneaking up her shirt and his lips pressed to her neck, that she almost didn’t hear her phone ringing.

Almost.

And she most certainly would have ignored it, if it weren’t the special ringtone she’d chosen for calls coming from headquarters.

“Shit,” she mumbled, reaching over to her bedside table and fumbling around in the dark for her phone.

“Just let it ring,” Kit breathed, and it was hard to argue when he was making her heart pound like crazy whenever he touched her. But she had other obligations.

“It’s headquarters,” she sighed, finally getting a hold of her phone and pushing herself up on her elbows.

“Your ringtone for headquarters is the James Bond theme song?” he chuckled, as she shook the hair out of her eyes, “what’s mine, tell me.”

“Freddie Kingston speaking, what can I do for you?” She said, tugging her shirt back down over her stomach. “Oh yes, Commander Jacobs, I was wondering if you would call.”

“Is it a pop song?” Kit asked, leaning forward to kiss her cheek, “is it Taylor Swift?” 

“It’s not,” Freddie giggled, pushing Kit’s face away playfully. “I mean, sorry,” she said into the phone, blushing, “it is possible for me to meet with you on that date, no problem.”

“Tell her you’re in a meeting,” he grinned, pressing forward to kiss her along her jawline.

“It’s midnight!” she whispered, putting her hand over the receiver, “Kitso, she’ll hear you.”

“Tell her there’s a raccoon in your apartment,” Kit insisted, landing kisses at the base of her neck, her collarbone, “tell her anything.”

“Someone with me?” Freddie said into the phone, shooting him a look. See ? “No Commander, it’s the TV on in my apartment, that’s all.”

“Freddie…” Kitso breathed. He slid a hand up her back, and she felt herself gasp as he trailed kisses down her stomach, his fingers dipping beneath the waistband of her underwear. 

“Oh my god,” she exclaimed, unable to stop herself. “Commander Jacobs, I’m so sorry, but I’ve got to call you back. No, it’s… there’s…” she stretched for something to say, her mind was anywhere but on the phone call. “There’s a raccoon in my apartment!”

Freddie heard the words tumble out of her mouth, unbidden. Before she could let herself say anything else, she hung up the call, tossing her phone halfway across the room in a panic.

Kit lifted up his head to stare at her, his eyes crinkled and smiling.

“See?” he laughed, scooting back up to rest his head beside hers, “not so easy when you’re on the spot, is it?”

“That was completely your fault!” Freddie accused, blushing up to her ears. “How am I supposed to explain that tomorrow?”

“You’ll think of something,” Kit shrugged, “maybe you heard a raccoon on your TV, maybe it turned out to be an owl…”

“I thought you wanted us to stop talking,” Freddie said, smiling as she grabbed his collar, pulling him into a familiar kiss. Kit smiled against her mouth, and she for a moment she forgot everything: the higher ups, her job, every expectation that had ever been placed on her. In that moment, the only thing that mattered was the two of them snuggled together in her apartment, breaking all the rules.

 

5. 

To say that Jaquie Manders hated her job would be decidedly untrue. There were things about it that she enjoyed; it was where she’d met all The Worthies, there were decent health benefits, and it was a step towards a career she’s always wanted.

That said, the day to day operations of MESSINA were a pain in her ass.

She spent the majority of her day tucked away in a surveillance room right out of some dystopian, 1984 type future. The rest of the staff barely knew she existed, much less her name. Their equipment was new, but shoddy as hell; half of the chairs were already broken, and nobody from maintenance ever seemed to hear their requests to fix the squeaky door. Sometimes the lights even flickered, just in case things didn’t seem run down enough.

But the worst, the absolute worst, were the nights when she was assigned to take over Zoo duty. Conversations with her friends were the main thing that made the job bearable, so of course Freddie had found a way to take that away from her.

It wasn’t like night surveillance was that big of a deal anyway. Most nights she was on duty, Jaquie spent the hours drumming her fingers on the desk, eating the snacks she’d packed away, her eyes flickering lazily from screen to screen. She wanted to play sudoku, or bring in books to read, anything to make the time go by faster, but she couldn’t. If someone broke into MESSINA on her watch, her career would be over.

Still, as long as she’d been working there, Jaquie hardly saw a soul during night Zoo shift. Sometimes Freddie would be working late, or one of the other spies, but most nights Jaquie was alone in the building.

She entered the surveillance room in a huff one evening, frowning down at a new snapchat from Costa. He, Paige and Chelsey had all gone out for drinks after work, the losers. Admittedly, they looked sorry that she wasn’t there (and she had quite a few texts from all of them restating that fact) but it still sucked to be locked away from the fun.

She threw down her coat and bag, snagged the comfiest chair and sat down at the main computer, kicking her feet up onto the desk. Yawning, she pulled up the main map of MESSINA, just to check if anyone was left in the building. Sure enough, Freddie’s little orange dot was situated stoically in her office.

“Figures,” Jaquie muttered, rolling her eyes. “Just you and me again, huh boss?”

But as her eyes finished scanning the map, she realized there was another dot she’d missed. Light purple, moving steadily towards Freddie’s office.

“Kitso Harper?” she frowned, minimizing the map and staring up at the monitors, “what are you doing here?”

She could see him on the screen now, walking up the stairs with something in his hands. He was clearly going to see Freddie, unless he’d had the sudden urge to explore the old case archives at midnight. She couldn’t tell what it meant, were they having a meeting? Jaquie wasn’t sure she’d ever met two people more unlike the other than Kit Harper and Freddie Kinston. Agent Harper was one of the only people on staff who knew her name, and she’d seen how calm he could be in an emergency. Freddie, on the other hand, was the living worst.

It was a little unprofessional, but Jaquie couldn’t help herself. She brought the view of Freddie’s office up on her computer, grabbed the earbuds out of her purse, and plugged in.

Freddie Kingston was sitting in her office as usual; head bent low over her paper, shoulders stiff like they were encased in concrete. Sometimes Jaquie thought she looked so tense that one good poke would make her explode.

Someone tapped on the office door - a long knock, a short, and then another long. To Jaquie’s surprise Freddie perked up immediately, her frown falling away, one hand anxiously combing through her hair.

“Come in,” she called, and Kitso entered the room. “Agent Harper, what are you doing here?”

“Hey boss,” Kit said, smiling more sweetly than Jaquie had ever seen, “how’s that case going?”

“Ugh,” Freddie let her head fall to the table, “it’s miserable.”

Jaquie frowned. Kingston wouldn’t normally show weakness like that. She was made of stone, completely focused on her image as a powerful, immovable leader. What was going on?

“Do you think this would help?” Kit asked, setting something down on her desk. Freddie lifted her head slightly, then perked up when she realized what it was.

Coffee,” she breathed, reaching out to cradle it in her hands like it was the most precious thing on earth, “Kitso, how did you know I needed this?”

“Because I know you,” he said. Before Jaquie could even begin to comprehend was was going on, Kit leaned over Freddie’s desk and kissed her.

Jaquie nearly fell out of her chair in her rush to stand up, her eyes fixed disbelievingly on the computer screen. She brought her hands up to rub her eyes; maybe she was more sleep deprived than she’d realized. But when she looked back down, they were still there. Kissing.

“I’m being punked,” she mumbled, looking around the room, “COSTA? PAIGE? CHELSEY STOP HIDING,” she shouted, but it was a feeble attempt. She knew they were far from MESSINA, and they didn’t have nearly enough sway with the boss to get her to kiss an employee for a prank.

Although, it seemed like something Freddie was perfectly willing to do all on her own.

The two broke apart, pressing their foreheads together.

“Who else is in the building?” Freddie asked.

“Everyone else left,” Kit said, quietly.

“Brilliant,” she actually beamed, Jaquie had never seen her look so happy. She’d never seen her look happy at all. “Get over here.”

Freddie stood up, pulling Kit around her desk and into her arms, kissing him again.

Jaquie pulled her earbuds out of the computer, minimized the window, and tossed it up into the corner of her screen. She scrambled for her phone, digging it out of her pocket and typing the first few digits of Costa’s number…

But something in the back of her head stopped her, and she cancelled the call. Her eyes flickered back up to the tiny window on her computer screen. Finding out that Kitso and Freddie were a couple was by far the most interesting thing that had ever happened to her on Zoo duty. She wanted to tell all her friends, she wanted to tell everyone, but something was making her hesitate. Their relationship was not only undisclosed to headquarters, it was flat out not allowed. Even though Freddie and Kit didn’t know it, they’d let Jaquie in on the secret.  

Maybe if it was Freddie and someone else, someone awful, Jaquie would have said something. But Kit was a good guy, she didn’t want him to get in any trouble because of her. Plus, who knew when this information would come in handy?

Jaquie glanced up at the tiny screen again, and immediately looked away.

Unprofessional, guys,” she sighed, “you don’t pay me nearly enough to be here right now.”

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