Secrets and Lies

Phoebe and I were ready to head out as soon as the meeting was over, but Dr. Goodland asked to have a quick word with the both of us before we left. Partially because she wanted to introduce herself in person, and she also wanted to ensure we both had all her contact info before we left.

Our conversation was brief, but it was enough to leave me with the impression that she was probably a good pick for that position. She seemed nice, she came across as interested in both Feebs and I as people as well as colleagues or potential patients. I also got the impression she already knew a fair bit about us, odds were she'd seen whatever files LIES kept on its employees. Or at the very least Dr. Bishop may have told her a few things. Either way neither Phoebe or I were ready to book time with the ponygirl immediately, but we both agreed to see her after our newest assignment was over.

With that out of the way the two of us finally left the office and headed back to our flat to get ready for another long drive. Which mostly involved changing into much comfier clothing for the trip. That meant jeans and a tee for Phoebe, leggings and a blouse for me. And both of us were wearing sneakers, as well as hoodies and jackets. Then we grabbed our travel bags and headed back out to the SUV.

"Ever been to Anglesey before?" Phoebe asked as she got settled in the passenger seat.

I shook my head as I began poking at the satnav to find our best route to north Wales, "Never. You?"

"No," she replied. "We don't know where we're going yet, do we? What are you putting as our destination, other than 'Anglesey'?"

"Alys said the sightings were around the Newborough Nature Reserve," I replied. "So I went with Newborough. That's the nearest village..."

My voice trailed off as the device updated itself with our directions and ETA, then I grimaced. "Four and a half hours? How is it our first case in Wales is also the furthest we've had to drive in one go?! It's going to be dark out before we even get there."

The redhead smirked, "Second thoughts? Or do you want to hold off for today, then get an early start tomorrow?"

That was tempting, but after a moment I shook my head. "We're all packed and ready to go now, and we told the others we'd be on our way today. So let's go."

With that I put the Grandland in gear and pulled out of our flat's parking area and onto the road. It was just a few minutes past noon, and baring any delays we'd reach our destination by five this afternoon.

We were both quiet for the first several minutes of our trip, but as we joined the A470 heading north towards Merthyr Tydfil something suddenly occurred to me.

"I only officially moved in yesterday," I sighed. "I got one single night in my new bedroom. Now we're heading out of town on another case, for who knows how long."

Feebs grinned, "Aye. Welcome to the glamorous life of a supernatural field operative."

I glanced at her then asked, "Was it like this when you were with the brotherhood?"

She shook her head, "Not really. I was one of six men at the Edinburgh office, and our territory only covered Scotland. Plus we could call on the entire Brotherhood if we ever needed extra manpower. What have we got now? Four field operatives, temporarily down to just the two of us. And we're trying to cover the entire British Isles? It's not even on the same page."

"Right," I nodded slowly.

There wasn't much more to discuss about that, so I let it go. Instead there was something else on my mind, that I'd been curious about since before our staff meeting.

"How did it go with Miss Talbot this morning?" I asked.

Phoebe shrugged, "It went pretty well. She said she was satisfied with my recent work. And I understand you put in a good word for me, thank you for that. The best part is I'm off probation, back to being a regular agent again."

"I even got my driving privileges back," she added with a grin.

I glanced at her and frowned, "Why didn't you say something? I only took the drivers seat because I thought you were still suspended."

Her smile shifted to a smirk, "It's fine. This way I get to pretend you're my chauffeur."

I gave her a suspicious look before focusing on the road again, "If you're fully reinstated does that mean you're the lead agent now? You've certainly got me beat when it comes to experience with the supernatural."

"Nah," she shook her head. "I'm off probation, but I lost any seniority I might have had. So I'm just another new hire, as of this morning. Which means you've got three weeks on me in terms of seniority."

"So you're still lead agent," she added. "Which I expect means I'll have to endure you treating me like your assistant, at least for a while yet."

I gave her another quick glance then teased, "You say that like you don't secretly enjoy it, Feebs. But then I suppose brats will be brats."

Sure enough that got her cheeks warming up.

I was tempted to tease her some more but I had another serious question first. "Is that why Miss Talbot didn't do anything about the age regression? I figured if your probation was over you'd want that fixed. Considering how much it seemed to bother you, when we talked about it a couple weeks ago."

Her blush grew a little brighter, and when she answered the question I found out why. The busty redhead admitted, "She offered, but I ah, told her not to bother."

"It hasn't been as bad as I expected," she quickly added. "I was worried people would think I was just eye candy, or treat me like a student or cadet or something? But that hasn't happened."

"Uh-huh," I responded in a flat tone. "And you didn't think to ask her to do anything about the 'short stack' figure either, I take it?"

Feebs' cheeks got even brighter at that question but instead of answering she mumbled, "I'm sure some folks would love to roll the clock back a decade or two. So the youth's more like an added bonus."

I found myself suppressing a smile as I commented in that same level tone, "Added bonus. Of course."

"You know you could just admit that you like it?" I added as my lips started curling up into a smirk. "Instead of trying to pretend otherwise. You'll probably feel better too, once you get it off your chest."

Rather than respond she just quietly huffed then turned to stare out the side window at the scenery. I wasn't quite finished teasing though.

With a wider smile I suggested, "Go on Feebs, give it a try. Just say, 'Yes Miss Sharpe I like being your hot young busty assistant' and see how much better you feel."

After a moment she mumbled something, and I was positive I could just make out a 'Miss Sharpe' in there somewhere. But it was too quiet, and with her facing away towards the left side window I couldn't be sure.

"What was that cutie?" I asked with another wide grin. "I couldn't quite hear you."

There was another, even softer mumble from her direction. Needless to say I couldn't make out a word of it that time.

I shook my head, "Sorry Feebs I still can't hear you. You'll have to speak up, try and enunciate."

That worked even better than I'd expected.

She suddenly turned to face me and half-shouted her reply, "I said the only way you'll get me to call you 'Miss Sharpe' is in bed! So either take me, or stop leading me on!"

The sudden shift in volume caught me off-guard, so it took another second before what she said hit me. My eyes widened, and I found myself staring at the road ahead while I quickly processed that. Meanwhile her cheeks went beat-red and she quickly turned to stare out the passenger-side window again.

"Phoebe I'm sorry," I finally began. "I didn't -"

She interrupted with a heavy sigh, "Bollocks. There's no need to apologize Trillium, if you're not into me that's fine."

"I'm the one who should be apologizing," she added quickly. "I've been dropping hints and doing my best to get you into bed right from the start. It never even occurred to me you weren't interested."

At that point I literally face-palmed. "That's why you've been booking us into hotel rooms with just one bed?"

"Aye," she admitted softly. "I thought Southampton might be a good hint, with us sharing a room. Two beds though. So I found something better in Canterbury, but you made such a fuss I started having second thoughts. Except you kept flirting with me, leading me on. So I thought..."

She shook her head, "Doesn't matter what I thought. I'm sorry for making assumptions, and for acting like a right fool."

By the time she'd finished talking she was slumped back in her seat with a glum look on her face.

This time I was determined not to let her interrupt, so I took a deep breath then told her how I felt. "I am into you Phoebe. I find you very attractive. You're also quite interesting to talk to, and I enjoy working with you. The reason I've been holding back and not taking you up on any of those obvious hints wasn't because I'm not into you. It's because I've been afraid of taking advantage of you."

"Everything about your situation's had me worried about you," I admitted. "Being transformed by that monster in Yorkshire must have been a tremendous shock, and a huge adjustment. Then there was that disciplinary business and the age regression. Plus with me being so new to the supernatural, not to mention the job... Well you remember I asked about some of this, that morning we were driving to Southampton?"

"Aye," she mumbled. Her cheeks were still red, but her mood appeared to be improving already. She glanced at me and asked, "So what if I said I'm fine, and there's no need to worry about all that? Would it set your mind at ease?"

Then with a bit of a naughty smirk she added, "What if I told you I wanted you to take advantage? What if I said that turned me on?"

I glanced at her before focusing on the road again, but despite her attempt to tease or lighten the mood my expression remained serious.

After thinking it all through for another few seconds I sighed, "It might help, but I'm still a bit uneasy. Everything you've told me about the magic you and Owen and the others used to use, what you've told me about Miss Talbot... I guess there's always going to be that nagging worry that you're under some sort of influence, maybe something you don't even know about."

The redhead frowned for a moment before pointing out, "In our line of work Trillium, you can never be completely sure of anything. Except that it's dangerous, you never know when something might come up to bring it all to a sudden end."

She continued, "Cindy Talbot may seem like all that, and granted her protection charms have helped us so far. But a year ago we used to think the Brotherhood was all that. Now the top man Alexander is almost certainly dead, and last I heard our boss Richard's been turned into a shy young woman who works in a bookstore in Canada."

"I don't know," she sighed. "I'm just saying, this kind of life can be short and dangerous. You've only been with LIES less than a month and you've been in what, three life-threatening situations? So why not enjoy it while we can? Put your all into the job when you're on the clock, but when you get the chance? Drink some whisky, enjoy a match on the TV, and if there's a pretty girl looking for a bit of fun then why not take her up on it?"

It took another few seconds for all that to sink in, then I glanced at her again. "And if it turns out later on that you have been influenced somehow? Either by the thing that transformed you, or our boss, or whomever?"

She shrugged, "I really don't care. You can run around in mental circles going on about 'the real me' all you like, but as far as I'm concerned it's irrelevant. The only thing that matters is who I am right now. And that's Phoebe Campbell, young busty short stack and supernatural secret agent. So please stop worrying about some hypothetical other me."

I still wasn't sure yet how to respond, so I just quietly frowned again. My hesitation soon turned into an awkward pause though, which Phoebe eventually broke.

"If you're into me and I'm into you then what's the harm?" she added. "Whether it's just a bit of fun or pressure relief, or turns into something more, why not go for it? If you're really not interested though, say the word and I'll drop it."

"Although the fact you haven't told me to shut up yet makes me think you're at least considering it?" she added with a hopeful smile.

I gave her another glance, then with my expression still serious I asked "You're sure? About all that?"

"Aye," she nodded. "All of it. If you're still not convinced then go ahead and use that truth spell of yours. I've nothing to hide from you."

That honestly hadn't occurred to me, but after a moment I realized it wasn't a bad idea. I needed more practise using magic in general, and that spell in particular. So I nodded, "Alright Feebs, I will."

Like back in Canterbury she could tell when the spell had been cast. Then she stated, "I'm not going to repeat that whole conversation, so hopefully it's enough for me to say I meant every word of it."

Sure enough the truth spell confirmed she was both honest and earnest in that statement. I already had another question in mind though, so I kept the spell in place a while longer.

"Is casting spells or using magic on your coworkers a normal thing?" I asked. "Either in LIES or when you were with the brotherhood?"

Phoebe shook her head, "Not as such. Although I've no idea what the rest of our colleagues get up to in private?"

"Magic was usually the go-to for discipline within the Brotherhood though," she grimaced. "The higher your rank the more magic you knew, and the bosses wouldn't hesitate to make an example of anyone who stepped too far out of line."

"Which seems to be the case with LIES now too," she continued. "Based on my experience with Miss Talbot, at least."

My spell told me all of that was true, not that I needed magic to confirm the last part. I wasn't too happy about it either, but I was hopeful that my partner's situation would be the last time that sort of thing happened at LIES.

Finally Feebs added, "The only other time Brotherhood agents might use magic on each other was for learning and practicing non-lethal spells."

This time my truth spell both confirmed her statement and provided another little flash of insight. It told me she wouldn't mind teaching me some of the spells she knew, then letting me practice them on her. In fact I was pretty sure the only reason she hadn't already offered was that she didn't want to come on too strong. Especially given the rest of our conversation.

The prospect left me curious, perhaps even a little intrigued. Enough that I couldn't help asking, "Since we're talking about spells and magic, maybe you could teach me some of your brotherhood spells?"

Her eyes widened slightly in surprise, but she nodded. "Aye, we could do that. We could even start this evening if you like?"

My truth spell confirmed she liked the idea, although I assumed she would since it was hers. I also got another little flash of insight. She was hoping those 'magic lessons' would segue into something fun, that I'd use them to 'take advantage' of her. Which brought us back to the reason I'd cast the truth spell in the first place. And by that point I was pretty much convinced. Although I did have one last idea, which left me holding back a smile.

"Alright Feebs," I stated, "Back to the matter at hand, you've almost set my mind at ease on the subject. There's one last thing before my truth spell fades."

Before she had a chance to respond I told her, "I'd like to hear you say that line I gave you earlier. I want you to tell me how much you enjoy being my assistant."

Sure enough that got her cheeks bright red, but she actually did it. She didn't recite the line I'd given her though, not exactly. Instead she came up with her own version, which was even better since it was in her own words.

With her cheeks burning and her eyes focused on the dashboard rather than me she half-mumbled, "Aye. I admit it, Miss Sharpe. I enjoy being your hot young short busty assistant. And I'd like it even more if you'd start taking advantage of me now and then."

"Or better still," she added, "If we made it a regular thing."

Once again my truth spell confirmed she'd meant every word. That was all though, as the magic finally faded away.

I glanced at the blushing redhead yet again, then smiled as I focused on the road. "Good girl. Doesn't that feel better?"

"Yes miss," she mumbled quietly.

A moment later she pulled out her phone as she muttered, "I'd better find us someplace really nice to stay, now we've something to celebrate."