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It was getting to be a new catch-phrase, 'one hurdle at a time'. It had started when Casino and Goniff had been fooling around on the obstacle course and knocked some of the hurdles over. Sergeant Major and Garrison had yelled, of course, told them to "stop fooling around and fix it! We don't have all day!", and in their haste to get them set back up, the two clowns had managed to get them spaced just a little too close together. (Well, they told everyone that that was what happened; belief was perhaps a little scattered.)No one had noticed at the time, but the next go around had proved disasterous. They were in close succession, only a foot or so apart or behind each other, and had no time to stop or adjust when it became clear the spacing was a problem. Well, that was one way of putting it, since clearing one hurdle had left the jumpers with no time to clear the second without a tumble over the next and over the fallen bodies of their teammates. Well, except for Goniff, who'd managed only by some wild acrobatics that no one else managed. For that matter, he couldn't have duplicated that bizarre combination of moves himself. The totally weary note in Sergeant Major's voice as he'd looked at all the sprawled bodies, sighed and made the request, "one 'urdle at a time, if you don't mind!" had just cracked them all up, though Watson hadn't seen the humor in it.Now, that phrase just kept coming up, the guys, even Garrison, starting to use it on a job. "One hurdle at a time, Warden", Casino had complained, when they were deciding how to blow the bridge AND take out the convoy AND snatch that double-agent."One hurdle at a time, Craig", Actor had sagely advised, when Garrison was walking the tight-rope of HQ regulations and getting frustrated over coming up against multiple roadblocks. Even "wait your turn, ladies. One hurdle at a time, you know,", as Casino had smirked, when he'd ended up with not one, not two, but THREE painted lovelies vying for his attention in the bar at Hotel Marchant. The entire crew had broken down into a fit of laughter at Goniff's wry, "well, THAT just proves you aint got near as much of an imagination as I'd 'ave thought, mate!" It was even more amusing when the ladies obviously agreed with that pronouncement and departed, leaving Casino setting there with his mouth hanging open. Now, the term would reappear at the conclusion of this latest job. Another local job, well, at least London based, but this time concerning some information Kevin Richards had received on a possible black market operation. He didn't usually get involved in such matters, but since scarce medical supplies were involved, and since the information came from a friend of the family, INVOLVING other members of that friend's own family, he made an exception. And since the information was very tentative indeed, he decided to bypass channels, avoid anything official until he had a better idea of what was going on.In fact, it had been a very convenient way of killing more than one bird, as the old saying went. Garrison's team had been bruised and battered that last mission out, and he'd like to give them a bit of a breather. Of course, if that breather suited another purpose, what harm could come from that? So there they were in London, the whole lot of them, Garrison and Actor hiring the small house adjacent to the one being hired by Alfred Greene and his extended family. A carefully arranged 'accidental' meeting, and now Garrison was being his charming, smiling best in squiring Annalise Greene, pretty young niece to Mr. Greene, here and there. Actor, now going by 'Charles', had accompanied them on many of their outings, joined by the delightful, if slightly silly, Merle Gibbons, a dark-haired American lady of perhaps thirty or so, possessed of perhaps less intelligence than other assets. Meghada thought it was maybe her premier performance, dark brown hair and cheek pads and makeup to make her look quite a bit older, the rather eccentric manner of dress and all, not to mention that accent!Merle was staying with her 'sweet, and ever-so-dear little friend, Annalise'. Casino had been established in the household as Merle's ne'r do well brother Charlie. He was having a field day flirting with the female help of both households, not to mention those occasions he'd found to slip into some unoccupied room or the other with Annalise's youthful Aunt Ada who was SUPPOSED to be acting as chaperone to Annalise. Annalise had remarked to a outwardly smiling (inwardly groaning) Garrison that "I do believe this is having some unexpectedly happy results, Craig, having Merle and Charlie stay with us. Why, I can't recall when I've seen Aunt Ada in such fine spirits!"Goniff, or 'David', was acting as Garrison and Actor's dogsbody, playing the engagingly sweet if rather sly fool and becoming quite a pet to the women of the households they visited. And if he didn't put on a pound or two from all the treats the cooks and the others kept pressing on him, well, it wouldn't be for lack of trying on everyone's part. He was still raving about those chocolates he'd been invited to share at the Greene residence. "Aint 'ad anything like that in a long while! Dark chocolate with cherries inside! Coo!"Chief wore the uniform of chauffeur, and a nametag that said his name was Leo; his flirting had been limited to that Packard with the surprisingly powerful engine under the hood. He was just as happy about that; he figured at least ONE of the crew should be paying attention to business! And besides, between Casino and Goniff, and even Garrison, the women of the two households were pretty well occupied; he was just glad they managed to still get a decent meal on the table. Well, Goniff had cozened the cooks and made sure Chief was included in the results, so that helped, but Casino was playing havoc with the attention span of the kitchen maids and all the rest. Garrison, well, he was limiting his attentions to Annalise Greene, trying to get close enough to the family to figure out if there really was a problem. Still, she was keeping him pretty busy, and he was keeping pretty late hours. On the particularly late nights, he'd sent Goniff back to the house; after all, it would have looked odd to keep his lackey hanging around while he was romancing a lady. It had been necessary, of course, Garrison paying that much attention to the lovely Annalise. Actually, Annalise herself had brought the idea to Kevin Richards, along with her suspicions, and it seemed a good way for him to have Garrison and the team keep under the radar while keeping an eye on her cousin Jack, who was maybe, just maybe, acting as a go-between for Alfred, Jack's father, and a blackmarket for profit operation. Well, they had to know for sure before they made any move, after all. The fallout of making false accusations would have been highly embarrasssing, and greatly impede any future efforts to keep such activities under control.But everyone who was watching could see just how well attuned they were to each other, how much they were both enjoying themselves in each other's company, Craig Garrison and Annalise. Ever so often a laugh would ring out, either that high tinkling one from Annalise, or the lower one from Craig Garrison, showing just how favorably they considered the other. The ever-increasing interest in his green eyes was well apparent, as was the ever-deepening warmth in hers, enough Richards was starting to get a little worried that Annalise and the American officer were forgetting why they were there, that this was a job. Oh, not that he didn't think they made a striking couple, and he had no problem if a real romance was forming there; it was just that they were on official business here. He wasn't the only one who was concerned about how well certain people were getting along.A dinner dance at the house, attended by family, a few select friends and acquaintances gave them an opportunity to some extra snooping, some closer observing of the parties in question. Well, the others, anyway. Garrison was occupied with dancing and talking to the people in attendance. It was decided that once again, 'one hurdle at a time' was the best route to take."We'll play the part for the first half of the evening, let everyone get used to us being around. I'll meet you in the room off the library at 9:00, give you your marching orders then," Garrison had informed them, as he straightened his tie and headed off to escort Annalise into the ballroom.The other members of the team had met his eyes when he'd slid back into the anteroom to give them their assignments after spending the first half of the evening socializing and whirling the lovely Annalise around the dance floor. Amusement seemed to be the most common emotion they'd shown, though somewhat mixed with envy. That was understandable; Annalise was truly a beautiful, charming young woman, one any one of them would have enjoyed spending time with, even the overly-particular Actor. Hell, Casino would have been happy to spin her around the floor a few times, though she was a petite brunette, not a buxom blonde like her Aunt Ada, and even Chief had seemed moderately approving of her. Goniff had laughed, teased Actor that "it's about time someone makes good with a classy skirt other than you, Actor."With Goniff, though, well, the blond pickpocket's hazy blue eyes hadn't quite met his. No, it was more than that; while his face had displayed sly amusement, just like the others, certainly, as he'd entered the room, afterwards his eyes had changed, grown slightly detached and focused slightly down and to the right. If Garrison had to guess, he would have said Goniff was looking past Garrison's shoulder, into open space, or maybe even just looking inwardly. Still, the earlier expression had been right, the light teasing words well in keeping with what the others on the team were using to rib their team leader with. The hollow look, perhaps the slightly bruised look under those eyes, well, it had been a long assignment in France and to come back to this one immediately had placed a strain on them all. Nothing to do with this new job, of course. Garrison snorted to himself, {"no, of course not."}. Just like that empty, frustrated feeling he was engulfed with, the feelings he'd felt since the start of this particular assignment, had nothing to do with the job, or his pickpocket either.He'd directed them quickly to their next stations - Casino to get into the safe upstairs and pull out anything of interest, Actor to the ballroom to carefully observe their suspects' movements, Chief to the downstairs office to riffle through the desk, likewise for anything of interest, and one by one they hurried off, all except Goniff, whom he'd left to the last. "Well, Warden, w'at's next? Am I to clear the family outta the way while you carry 'er off on a white 'orse? Young Lochinvar and all that??" came as a light, joking question from the slender blond perched with one hip on the edge of the side table. Garrison moved closer, his voice in a low growl. "Wrong character, Goniff. I'm not Lochinvar, not the Red Duchess either. First off, I don't have a horse at my disposal. And besides, there's no time for all that; it looks to be too busy a night. I'll have to settle for a kiss for now."Goniff blinked at the Red Duchess reference, but then gave a small huff of what could have been, should have been amusement, except for the look in the far back of his eyes. "Then you better get to it, you know. She's likely waiting for you to do just that. You leave 'er alone out there too long without staking your claim, some other bloke's . . ."Their resident pickpocket's words were cut off mid-sentence, not because he'd forgotten what he intended to say, but because a pair of crushing lips covered his own, stealing a long, deep, passionate kiss. Goniff slowly relaxed his overly tense body, letting the doubts fade away with the tension.There was only the sound of hoarse breathing then, before Craig Garrison reluctantly stepped back. "So there, I've staked my claim. Now, I've got to get back before she, and everyone else, figures out I'm missing, gets wise."Goniff shuddered in reaction, still struggling to get his breath; his voice was more raspy than usual, even a little thready. "Yeah, you better do that. W'at do you want me to be doing in the meantime?""Wait for me, Goniff. Just . . . .wait," looking into the hazy blue eyes staring up at him. Maybe that was a little ambiguous, but, well, that question from Goniff had been a little ambiguous too.Then, bringing his errant mind back to the job at hand, Garrison grinned and added a quick rueful, "oh, and you might see if you can lift that notebook from Jack's coat pocket. That might tell us a thing or two.""Think I can 'andle that, Warden. Both parts of it." This time, his eyes were focused squarely on Garrison's, not off to the side, and that slight smile, well, that was real now, not the mockery of a pretense that it had been before.The notebook DID tell them a thing or two, including sending the search off in a different direction. Jack and his father had indeed been up to something, a joint venture, but not connected to the black market or anything nearly so nefarious. It was a rather chagrined Annalise who apologized for causing so much commotion, but it was pretty well agreed it was better to have checked it all out, rather than let it go unnoticed. Jack and Alfred were a little embarrassed to know their young female relative had spotted all their ever-so-secret meetings and comings-and-goings, much less the appalling possible interpretation she placed on those. "Seems maybe we need to get some advice on security measures, before we start our next land deal, Jack. Lucky our investors never found out about that last little fiasco! Pretty little Annalise! Of all people!"Well, at least Alfred's embarrassment over that distracted him somewhat from his intense annoyance at something else that had come to his attention about that whole situation. Much better that way, of course, and that the visitors, inhouse and next door, had departed rather quickly. Alfred was a reasonably good-natured man, but there WERE limits!Major Richards had wondered if there might not have been at least some good come of it all. After all, Craig Garrison and Annalise Greene had made a remarkably compatible couple. He rather thought he had been right, when the lovely Annalise asked him to drive her down to Brandonshire so she could speak with the American officer. "I can hardly ask my uncle or cousin; things are a little tense at home right now." He'd sat patiently at the pub, waiting for the phone call saying she was ready to leave. She'd told him it wouldn't take very long, but he had his doubts. {"Young love and all that."}. Still, he was actually glad for a break; it had been a rough few weeks, and he was headed out in another couple of days for what looked like one of those 'interesting situations' the war so readily provided. Annalise looked up at Craig Garrison, cautiously, apprehensively. It hadn't been easy, deciding what to say, making herself approach her old friend of the family Kevin Richards to bring her here. Still, it was imperative there be no confusion; he seemed just too nice a man for that."You DO know it was all a masquerade, DON'T you, Lieutenant? I'd hate for you to have gotten the wrong idea. I mean, you seem very nice and all, but I really don't . . ."She was greatly relieved at the grin on his face, "no, I didn't get the wrong idea, Annalise. It was a job, and if I might say, one you handled admirably. But, frankly, just like I'm not your type, you really aren't mine, either. No offense, of course."She heaved a deep sigh of relief. "Oh, that's fine, then. I really DID enjoy your company, but, well, you know."He laughed, and she had to admit he had a very nice laugh. "Yes, I know." But he didn't, not really, until she blushed and stuttered around for a bit then asked, "your friends. They all seemed quite nice, although Uncle Alfred is not too happy with your Charlie, or rather that Aunt Ada was so taken with him." Garrison raised an inquiring brow. "Oh?" "Yes, but I suppose it might have worked out for the best. Uncle Alfred has decided they need to go on a second honeymoon, perhaps put some of the romance back in their marriage." Garrison choked; somehow, he and the others had gotten the impression that Aunt Ada was Alfred's sister; it appeared that was not the case. He made a note to mention to Casino about being a little more careful in the future."Well, as I was saying, they all seemed quite nice. Especially David, the sweet blond one with the blue eyes. Do you happen to know if he has an, well, an attachment to anyone?" Annalise really did have a pretty blush.He was pretty sure he'd not shown just how startled he was at that question, startled and just a little concerned. He'd known Goniff had become a favorite with quite a few of the females of the side-by-side households; he hadn't realized Annalise numbered among them, or just how charming their pickpocket had actually been. Somehow he didn't like that idea, not at all. Maybe he needed to mention to Goniff about being a little more careful too."Yes, actually, he does. He was just acting a part, just like we all were, Annalise. I'm afraid he's not available." If his voice came off a little strained, a little stern, well, it was only to be expected. Annalise didn't hear that very faint chuckle from behind that small concealed door, but Garrison did. Her sigh of disappointment failed to touch Garrison's heart, and he was most happy to usher her on her way. He kissed her on her cheek and saw her to the door, closed it behind her with a firm click. He gave a rueful laugh as she left, thinking how all that had come out of blue. {"Shows how observant I was NOT being!"}"So, I'm not available. Yer sure of that?" The voice came from behind him.His laugh rang out even louder, "yes, damn your blue eyes, I'm sure! And if you don't believe me, I'm damned sure Meghada would be happy to second that opinion! And what are you doing in here? I thought you were supposed to be out on the obstacle course with the others!""Well, one 'urdle at a time, just like the Sergeant Major keeps saying. Saw 'er come in. Just wanted to be sure we were really over this 'urdle before going on to the next; didn't know there was another one or two coming right along behind. Want to be there w'en you let Casino know about 'Aunt Ada'; coo, w'at a mess THAT could 'ave been. Aint polite to diddle a man's wife w'en you're a guest in 'is 'ouse, you know," came the cheeky answer, as Goniff headed out the door to catch up with the others. A wry chuckle came floating back to Garrison, acknowledging this had really been more than one hurdle; it was just that they hadn't known about that second and third ones til the very end. Watching his resident pickpocket trot off to join the others, Garrison found a slight frown coming to him. Yes, Goniff was going to be there when Casino got his talking to; they all would be. And he was going to have a few words to say to Goniff in that meeting as well, about not being quite THAT endearing or charming, should the occasion arise again. He wondered if that would come through as a reasonable request, erring on the side of caution, or whether it would come out as a bit of disgruntled jealousy. Maybe the others would take it as the first; he was pretty sure Goniff would know differently. Garrison wasn't used to that, the jealousy being on the other side; funny how that worked out. Garrison decided maybe he shouldn't be quite as complacent as he'd let himself become. He just had too much to lose. His eyes followed that small figure now disappearing into the wooded area that separated the lawns from the obstacle course, until Goniff was totally out of sight, before he turned back to the reports he'd been working on when Annalise arrived. '