He lit a cigarette the following Saturday as he waited in front of the park, their agreed-upon meeting place after he had called and sung the first few bars of "het Wilhelmus". He idly wondered if the thief would show up, then realized that the world would probably stop spinning before the thief gave up a dinner with Iron Klaus. He took a drag and thought on that.

Their mission the week before had gone well. The false Marchioness had indeed been working with the Neo-Nazis, and his men had followed her straight back to where they had their headquarters during the mourning period. It had been a simple matter of raiding the building the next day, though they still had to attend the events the rest of the two weeks in order to assist the other agencies dealing with other terrorists groups.

He exhaled and smiled. He had one of his men tail Agent Lawrence the entire weekend and report if he ever got within three blocks of the Major. He had been in England two weeks, working with the SIS, and not had to even lay eyes on Agent Lawrence. It was cause for a celebration.

His eyes landed on the thief, approaching hurriedly from a block away. He supposed that's what he was doing here tonight, anyway.

*****

The Earl laughed out loud. >"Really? G is such a clever boy. Working as a NATO spy for 15 years under a false identity."<

>"No! Had he been a spy from another organization, we would have found out sooner. A cross-dresser who was shunned from a religious community is harder to track and less important.<

>"But you are still bothered that the lie made it through the system and into your unit."<

The Major looked up at the man. Yes, that was exactly the problem with the situation. He didn't acknowledge it, though, just took a long drink from his beer.

>"Actually, since you brought up NATO, did you get that package I mailed you?"<

The Major set his beer down and stared across the table, expression unreadable.

*****

"THAT BLOODY WANKER!  DEGENERATE!  IDIOT!  THIEF!"

The Major's protests had rung loudly through the office, where 25 agents looked at the door to the Major's private office. B had given him a package moments ago, a plain brown parcel with an English postmark mailed to the Major at work.

Well, now they knew who in England had sent a package. The Agents held their breath for several minutes waiting for any hints about what had been in the package.

Suddenly, the Major stormed out and left the office. The Agents looked silently from one to another. After a minute had passed, G, the bold one, had stood up and began edging quietly to the office.

Suddenly, the main door to the department slammed open. The Major was holding a hammer in one hand and had the fist of his other hand clenched.

"NO! I... I was just handing in my report, sir! Here! Here, take it!" The panicked Agent G said, cowering and holding out a thick stack of papers to the Major.

The Major looked at him, then rushed past him into the office, returning to the door a few minutes later. The Major's body blocked the door as a few minutes of furious pounding commenced, all agents watching in silent horror, Agent G frozen in place several feet away, still holding out his report.

The Major finished, and then stepped away from the door. He turned to the room and smiled. "The Earl of Gloria has sent us some photos to remember the mission by. I hung them on my door here because I enjoy them so much, so that we can remember that mission fondly every time we see the photo. He then went back into his office and slammed the door.

Simultaneously, the agents silently sprang from their desk and crowded around the door to the Major's office, all pushing for a better look.

There were two photos, both in elaborate frames. One had been taken by a professional photographer at the funeral itself. Presumably professional portraits were taken whenever full ceremonial dress was required, since the occasions were not frequent. The Major had objected to the photo, but it would have looked suspicious not to have it taken. It was he and the Earl side by side, the Earl in that tuxedo and the coronet and mantle, the Major in full dress uniform. Both the Earl and the photographer had insisted that the Major take the Earl's arm, since he was the one with the title. The Earl was smiling, the Major simply looked dour.

The second photo was at the same event, judging by the clothes, but it was out on the street. The Earl had one hand on his coronet and the other arm around the Major's neck, and had pulled the man in for a rather intimate-looking kiss. The Major's eyes were closed, his face a wooden mask, his hands down on his sides.

*****

>"Yes, I did receive them. I hung them in my office."< The Major offered the same smile that he'd offered his men when he'd hung the photos.

*****

Before anyone could blink, all the Agents had taken their seats back at their desks. They stared straight ahead, their faces like that of condemned men.

They were the most terrifying photos the agents had ever seen.

*****

The Earl looked up from his meal, pausing with a tomato speared on his fork in midair. He stared at the Major.

>"I think you are telling a joke."<

>"When have I ever joked?"<

The Earl paled, realizing that it was very likely the Major was telling the truth.

"I must admit, that was better than I hoped. I thought you would just throw them out. I'm glad you enjoyed them enough to admire them from your office."

>"Yes. It's the best place for my agents to admire them, after all."< The man continued to smile. The Earl was deeply unsettled.

The Major stopped smiling as he thought about the pictures on his door. >"By the way, where did that other picture come from? The one taken outside. Did you set me up for that with one of your men beforehand?"< The glare he gave the Earl threatened to make the blond man combust on the spot.

The Earl smiled and took a minute to chew his tomato before answering. >"No, that wasn't me. I told you to wait to come out with a Prince. The street was lined with writers and picture-takers. They wanted anything about that event. Coming out with a Prince, nobody would notice an Earl. An Earl running out with a man dressed in German military uniform before anyone else? Very interesting. I saw a man looking at us as soon as we left. He took some pictures of us on the street. He also waited and took a picture when we kissed."<

The Major's glare went from dangerous to deadly. >"So you asked for that when you knew there was someone watching us?!"<

The Earl's eyes widened as he realized the Major was thinking about it all wrong. >"No, no!  That wasn't why I asked! It would have been strange for partners to part from such an event not together, but to part without saying goodbye? Even stranger. And with photos, the man could have been approached."< The Earl grew more confident as he saw the ice leave the Major's stare. >"I just asked him after you left. At worst, we would have been on the society writings, but it is still not what you want, right? It would have been avoided if we had left when I said."< The Earl finished poutily.

The Major snorted. >"And why did he give you those pictures when you asked him?"<

>"I just told him my name. He had just started his job and didn't recognize my face, only that I was an Earl from the way I was dressed. When he didn't recognize my name from the list of people he needed to watch, I told him nobody wanted to hear about me since I didn't go with the others."< The Earl thought about pausing there, but then continued on with the story. >"I also told him that I had been chasing you for years, and that you'd only recently relented to my charms, and I wanted the photo to commemorate our first kiss. He sympathized with my love."<

The Major decided not to respond to that remark. He kept his face blank and drained his beer, and then changed the subject.

*****