Implementation

Early the next morning Claudia was with Steve in his room ironing out the details of the plan and making a list of the things they were going to need. Claudia was going to get Pete and Myka to agree to go on a date together. The catch was making them both think that the other thought it was just a just a simple blind date. That was the hard part, considering they told each other everything, but Claudia was counting on the fact that they would both be too nervous to even accidentally say anything about it to each other. Steve's job on the other hand was setting up a romantic dinner for two out on the back deck under the stars. It seemed simple to Claudia, but Steve knew the importance of details, such as what kind of flowers to use for the centerpiece arrangement, what colors to use, what to serve, and how to do it. His days as a waiter in an upscale restaurant in New York were definitely paying off now, not that he'd ever admit that.

"Okay, I'll convince Pete and Myka and then get them out of the B&B for the rest of the day," Claudia said to Steve. They had just finished going over the plan and worked out most of the minor details that would trip them up. "You get everything ready here."

"What are we going to do about Leena and Artie?" Steve asked, looking over the list again, making sure he wasn't missing anything. "If they interrupt, the whole thing will most likely go sideways." He also wanted to keep the people seeing him as a waiter to an absolute minimum, he just wasn't going to say it.

"Let me handle that," Claudia waved her hand dismissively. That was the easy part, as Artie was practically obsessed with making sure everything was still in the Warehouse on pretty much a daily basis. Not that she really blamed him for that. As dangerous as some of the stuff in there was, it wasn't really paranoia, just a very healthy caution. To Artie at least. "Leena can keep Artie busy in the Warehouse doing inventory, and convincing her to help will take a whole two seconds."

"Really?" Steve asked curiously. "Why would Leena agree to leaving the B&B for an entire evening?"

"Probably because she's as tired of those two dancing around each other just like the rest of us," Claudia said in exasperation. She really liked Jinksy, but sometimes he just asked far too many questions. Then again, sometimes he didn't ask enough, so it evened out in her mind. It still didn't make him asking too many questions any less irritating at times.

"Okay, I'll head into town and get the supplies," Steve said, sliding on his shoes. "You have fun with Pete and Myka. Give me two hours to get everything and get out of town and then do what you need to to get them out of the B&B." He stood and stretched a bit, grabbing the list, his wallet and keys off the dresser next to the door.

Claudia nodded once and slipped out of the room, followed quickly by Steve. She went off to find Pete first, convincing him would be pretty easy. Convincing Myka on the other hand could eat up almost all of her time, and she wanted to make sure she had all of her questions and answers for that particular conversation straight in her mind beforehand.

Claudia found Pete and Myka in the dining area finishing up their reports from the New Orleans mission. She walked over and tapped Pete on the shoulder, took a small step back and waited. He looked up at her curiously and she shifted a bit, pretending to be uncomfortable. "Hey man, can I talk to you for a minute?" she asked softly.

"Sure," Pete said, turning in his seat to face her better. "What's up?" he asked, furrowing his brow. If it was enough to make Claudia uncomfortable, it had to be important. Myka slowed in her writing and was glancing up occasionally, curious as to what was going on.

Claudia rolled her eyes and grabbed his arm, dragging him off to another room, not noticing the small smirk on Myka's face as they left or the wink Pete shot at Myka as he was lead out of the room.

Myka had just finished her report and was headed into the den with a book. She sat down on the couch and curled her feet up under her, setting the book on her lap and opening it to the marked page. She had only been reading for a few moments when Claudia walked in and shut the door behind her.

Claudia walked over to the couch and dropped down next to Myka. "What'cha reading?" she asked, leaning over closer to Myka to look at the page.

"A Tale of Two Cities," Myka replied despondently, barely registering the fact that there was someone else in the room, let alone that they were talking to her.

"Interesting choice," Claudia said halfheartedly, losing interest in the book quickly. She wasn't a big Dickens fan at all. "Hey Myka, can I ask you a question?"

"You just did," she answered humorously, sliding the bookmark into her book and shutting it gently. "But I'm assuming you mean a different question?" she added with a soft smile.

Claudia hesitated for a moment. She may have gotten Pete to agree to this, but convincing Myka was going to be tricky, to say the least. "How do you feel about blind dates that are only half blind?" she asked carefully.

Myka looked confused for a second before answering. "What do you mean?" she asked cautiously.

"If I set up a blind date with someone for you, and you both knew each other, but only you knew that going in, would you say yes?" Claudia asked, backing away slightly and looking a bit fearful.

Myka sat up straight and looked Claudia in the eyes. "Claudia, what did you do?" she asked, suddenly very alert.

"Nothing!" Claudia replied far too quickly. "I just wanted to know what you thought about it."

Myka looked at her suspiciously for a second before saying slowly, "Well, I guess it would depend on who it was." She set the book off to the side and turned to face the young girl. "So who is it?" she asked.

Claudia shifted uncomfortably for a second and said, "Pete." It almost sounded like a question the way she said it.

Myka was completely still for a moment, thinking. "Okay," she finally said with a shrug.

Claudia looked a bit startled. She was expecting this to take a lot longer than that. "That's it?" she asked, still a bit shocked.

"Well it's not like I have anything better to do," Myka said with a small shrug. "And it's been forever since I've been on a date of any kind," she said, picking up her book. "Might as well use it as practice for a real date," she added, opening her book and going back to reading.

Claudia was a bit confused by this but continued anyway. "So seven o'clock tonight out back?" she asked.

"Sure," Myka said distantly, once again lost in her book. "Seven o'clock."

Claudia caught Leena in the kitchen making lemonade and walked up beside her. "Hey Leena," she started, looking at the lemons on the counter that the woman was cutting. "I need to ask a huge favor."

"I'll be gone all evening helping Artie in the Warehouse," she replied, not looking up from what she was doing.

Claudia looked surprised and said, "Well that was easy."

Leena just smiled. "I found Steve's list. He had to fill me in to get it back," she replied. "Want to give me a hand?"

"Sure, I've got time," Claudia said with a shrug. She slid the juicer over in front on her and began helping Leena make her famous lemonade.

At a quarter to seven, Steve had finally finished setting up the small round table outside on the deck, complete with a white silk tablecloth, candles, and a low centerpiece of purple lilies. He made sure the vase was low so it wouldn't block conversation, but still high enough that it wasn't invisible among the rest of the items on the table. He set a bottle of wine on a small side table and went inside to put the finishing touches on the food.

As he was adding the garnishes, Claudia walked into the kitchen and whispered to Steve, "Okay, they just sat down." She looked at the two plates and let out a low whistle. "Where did you learn how to do all this, Jinksy?" she asked, amazed at the wonderful presentation.

"Here and there," Steve replied vaguely. Picking up the plates and heading for the back door, followed closely by Claudia. They had almost reached the doorway when the sounds of arguing floated in. Very intense arguing. The two younger agents looked at each other worriedly, slightly startled at this sudden turn of events. They rushed outside just as Myka stormed past them in anger.

"What happened?" Claudia asked, in wide eyed confusion. Things had been going so well, and the sudden turn threw her off.

Pete was still staring after Myka as he said, "I have no freaking idea. I told her that dress looked great on her and somehow she took it to mean that I meant she didn't look that great normally."

Claudia looked between Pete and the door Myka disappeared through. This had not gone the way she had hoped, and now it looked like they were never going to talk again. She knew that wasn't true, they'd talk eventually, but now there was probably no hope of getting them together. Not anytime soon at least.

Claudia turned to Pete and said, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have interfered."

"That's right, you shouldn't have," Myka said from behind Claudia, causing the girl to jump and spin in shock, almost knocking the plates out of Steve's hands. "You should remember that next time," Myka added with a smirk.

"Wait, what?" Claudia asked, thoroughly confused. She officially had no idea what was going on.

"You," Pete began, pointing a finger accusingly at Claudia with a smirk, "Were interfering and trying to get us together."

"So we," Myka continued, picking up Pete's thought. "Decided that you needed to learn to not interfere in things that are none of your business by making whatever you were going to do backfire a bit." She looked over Claudia's shoulder at Pete and asked, "Are you ready to go? We'll be late for our real date if we don't leave soon."

Pete nodded and grabbed his suit jacket off the back of the chair and walked off with Myka arm in arm, leaving Claudia and Steve staring after them, both for once completely speechless.

"What the hell just happened?" Claudia asked, dumbfounded. It wasn't often that she was this completely confused.

"You got beat at your own game," Steve replied swiftly. After a second Steve turned and handed one of the plates to Claudia, saying, "Might as well not let this go to waste, it took forever to make."

A/N - This is the last chapter in this story, but that doesn't mean it's over! I'm already working on a sequel, have the first two chapters worked out, and I'll get it uploaded just as soon as I can! Also, I just wanted to say you all have been amazing readers, and thanks for all the support and reviews, they made my day every time!