No One Knows {Markus, Casey, Anne}

The past two, nearly three, weeks had gone by with few hitches but no luck in his stakeout for any sign of Trevor Williams, his son, or Seren Weavers, whom he had found no record of upon further search since Williams' disappearance. She had simply seemed to vanish since the discovery of Jasper Faber's alliance with SAVIOR and subsequent arrest. Casey knew enough from the one brief correspondence that Seren was alive, but she was afraid--very afraid--and knew better than to try to contact her outright. He was beginning to wonder if his only hope was to write Julian himself and had posed the possibility in the letter he had just sent to Evie a few minutes ago.

For now, he was trying to focus on the newly returned positive in his life. While Casey wasn't sure exactly what was going on between himself and Kara, he knew she hadn't protested when he'd promised to return today during his "free day." Truth be told, it wasn't actually free, but he'd been eager to see exactly where this would go. They had a history, but he liked to think they could make something of this should they so choose. He'd moved on from Evie this time. He was no longer tied down with any hope of her ever regaining her memory or becoming anything like the woman he'd married. This time, aside from a professional relationship with the woman he'd married, he was free.

While the stakeout job as Markus' cousin, Thorsten Kholer, had certainly left him with little free time, he'd found his mind wandering back to the moments he had shared with Kara. It was hard not to want to focus on that one little bright spot in his life--whatever it may be. The last time his mind had strayed, he'd told himself he wasn't going to get his hopes up as it was possible this wouldn't go any further, that Kara could face regrets, and he wasn't going to invest himself until he saw her this week. That had been two days ago before he'd been faced with the realization Julian might not come out of the woodwork and might be bound to wherever Trevor had him holed up.

Despite this, he still had come here at the promised time. A pub food dinner wasn't the most scrumptious, but it was better than eating food he'd ate every day for the past nearly three weeks from the wizarding world or anything he could attempt to make himself (if he didn't manage to burn down his lodgings first). And, he reminded himself, he needed a break from the humdrum of staking out if he wanted to do his best. And Casey wanted to do nothing less than his best.

So it was that Casey had come straight from the Wizarding World to The Abby. He'd shed his wizarding robes so he was merely in a black button-up with dark jeans, a leather belt placed through the belt loops, and tennis shoes. Nothing out of the ordinary for the muggle world. Nothing to get him noticed. His disguise was barely different from his real look, and any who suspected he was truly alive might see through it.

Casey made sure everything was in its place before entering, and as soon as he was in from the cold, his green contact-laden eyes searching for any sign of Kara as he made his way over to a table in the corner.

"Just water for now," Casey replied to the blonde's question with barely a glance at her. She'd already been written off as "not the one I'm looking for" in Casey's mind. He was obviously distracted as he looked around while adding, "I'm waiting for a friend." Maybe he should have been more specific, but he figured if Kara hadn't yet shown her face, she was in the middle of something and was best left alone until she was finished and had time to come up. He had all the time in the world, really. He was waiting for further orders from Evie, after all, and those likely wouldn't arrive for another few days; even with a patronus messenger, time was a bit of an issue.

Either way, Casey figured it was best he didn't stake out any longer tonight or he'd end up sending a letter to Julian, which...well, now that he thought about it, was probably not a good idea. Williams could see it or the boy could see it and show Williams or pretty much any combination of events. Then again, why would Julian show Williams at any time? His son was on their side when he came back from the future, right? So, he would have to talk to Julian from the future and see what exactly he thought of the idea. Surely sending a note would be no big deal, but only he knew his younger self's state of mind around the time he had run away and a few months after no one had come looking for him. Sadly, Williams was clever enough to turn the mind of a child in his favor.

Casey began to shake his head but stopped mid-first motion. "Not at the moment but likely later. Like I said, I'm meeting a friend here. She works here, but I figure she may be a little busy because I don't see her." He shrugged. "Thanks for the water," he told her, looking up at the blonde long enough to raise his glass up to her before taking a sip. Maybe it was a bit abrupt, but he had nothing else to say to her. This blonde was clearly not Kara, and clearly there was nothing more to say to her unless she wanted to take an order when Kara did arrive.

Casey glanced at his watch. It was a couple minutes after six according to the timepiece, but the thing did always run a little fast. She'd show. Surely, she'd show up. Otherwise, he wasn't certain what he'd do. It wasn't like sleeping together meant they had any obligation to each other, but if he was honest, Casey kind of hoped it wouldn't change things too much. As naive as Casey knew such a thought might be, they had been friends first and foremost. Surely that counted for something. Surely, she wouldn't avoid him.

Markus needed a break. That much was obvious. As much as Anne knew she was probably helping matters, she was also complicating them. After all, Markus' wife (It was somehow easier to think of her that way than by her name. It made her less of a person and more of...a pet.) was in the castle, and the castle was also full of people eager and ready to spread gossip. They'd had to be careful whatever they did, which admittedly wasn't much yet. Flirting, stolen kisses, some snogging here or there when they could manage it... She was making him work before he got more.

But Markus needed a break. He needed a break as much as she needed a break and as much as she needed a date out with him away from the bitch wife's watchful eyes. Markus' wife was completely professional in her interactions with Anne, certainly, but Anne couldn't help but view her as the competition ever since their feelings had been confirmed. She vied for Markus' attention when he had time available, too, leaving Anne with the scraps. It was awful, and she was almost willing to give Markus everything just to stake some further claim in his attention and keep him away from the enemy.

But she could wait. As much as Anne hated it, she could wait. Never mind the uncertainty of what Markus was doing with the enemy during the night when she could not be with him without arousing suspicion. Still, she was here now with him. Outside this bar he swore was the best place to get away at. Hopefully it was true. She didn't want to have to put up a professional front around him during their outing just to save face. She wanted to enjoy herself. She wanted Markus to enjoy himself.

Anne glanced back at Markus with an excited grin and squeezed his hand before she took a few quick steps toward the door to the Abby and pulled it open.

“You got an attitude to every waitress you encounter?” Kara pursed her lips and shook her head as she continued to fill the crate with glasses for the racks. “All because you didn’t know it was me. I guess this face makes for some good surveillance.” Of course, she couldn’t stay mad at him. She could tell he was concerned just by the fact that he had followed her back here to apologize. Looking all around her, Kara made sure they were alone before she latched onto him in an embrace. This version of Casey was quite strange as she expected to look into piercing blue eyes but instead were greeted by green eyes. His hair was different too, but not to the extreme of Kara versus her persona, Kat.

Her body was different, her facial features, her voice, and somewhat, her attitude. Kat Bauer was developed from someone that Kara only vaguely remembered, but it was safe for her to be used here as she was completely unknown to the Muggle realm. She only used this face when she felt like she should monitor the patrons of the Abby outside of her own skin. She didn’t realize she would actually bump into Casey tonight, but this was an even better way of concealing their … “relationship”. When she was absolutely sure no one would be looking, she kissed him passionately, and pulled away to look into his eyes. “I didn’t want to have to look like this tonight, but I was sure someone would show up, someone dangerous. I wanted to be careful.”

It was just a gut feeling she had, to use polyjuice to disguise herself from the unknown foe, but she didn’t care now, because Casey was with her. “Don’t let me break your cover,” she whispered.

"Table," Anne told him, raising her just enough voice to be heard over the buzz of the Friday night dinner crowd. The sheer amount of eyes around them was enough to make Anne wonder briefly if this was such a good idea after all. What if the enemy had a friend who frequented here? or what if someone recognized him and sold their picture to a rag?

Anne realized she couldn't think like that, of course. She had to let go of her reservations and fears as they came and live in the moment. She'd spent far too much of her life worrying what others thought or who might see her doing this or that. It was time to loosen up. What was the worst that could happen to her? Public shaming? Pish-posh. She could handle that. She had her career as head of IA. There was no election to keep her there, so she had nothing to worry about. It was Markus who did, so she'd live in the moment but let him take the lead. Whatever he initiated was on him. It had to be or else tonight was going to be spent with her studying every face in the crowd except this fine specimen of a man who was with her.

"Don't want to get stuck standing or waiting," Anne explained, though she figured it didn't need to be said. She kept hold of his hand while she went over toward the only empty table she saw. She figured someone would want to sell them pub food and drinks, so she was in no hurry to suggest he go get them some while they waited.

“Alright, Thor.” Kara wore a blissful grin from ear to ear, welcoming his kisses as he all but demanded them from her. He sent her swirling around physically and even internally when he gave her the chills just by kissing her. She just hoped her appearance or body change wasn’t too much of a difference for him, making her less desirable. It was only temporary, after all. “I missed you too.” She responded, closing her eyes as he pressed his forehead against hers.

This Thor guy did seem only slightly different from Casey, not just in looks but in the way he held her too. Kara wasn’t swayed by this, however, just the fact that she knew it was Casey made her at ease. It was something she had to get used to; they would have to be sneaking around, hiding behind other faces because of the constant threat of being watched by the enemy. Maybe she was just being paranoid, but she took an extra precaution tonight for a good reason. “Chatter. I don’t get it around here as much as I used to, but I’ve been hearing some things, some big things, are due to happen. Merlin knows there are watchful eyes in this bar, friendly and unfriendly. I just didn’t want to take a chance.” She explained to him, reaching up to put her hand to his face. Those green eyes still gave her butterflies, though she did miss looking at Casey’s blue gaze. “The muggles won’t notice a thing, but those from our world won’t say much if I’m around. So I ‘hired’ this blond to do my spy work, and I take it by your response once you found out it was me you like it?”

A teasing smile curled her lips as she leaned up to sneak in another kiss. “I haven’t heard too much as of late, but this is the only way I’m going to get any information. Yeah, they’ll still see my tracker is at the bar but that’s not unusual. I’m here almost every single day anyway, for all the Guard knows, I could be up in the office.” She nodded upward at the office as she said it, and then felt her face flush as she mentioned it. That office.

That night had been on her mind for days. Kara enjoyed her moment of passion with Casey and hoped it wouldn’t be the last time. Sure, the bar had seen some action but the office was prepped and ready with a bed, a nice and comfortable bed she shared with Casey. “Too bad we can’t go up there now…” She needed him.

“Kat!” She heard Henrietta from beyond the barrier. “Kat, are you back here?”

“Damn.” Kara huffed to herself, straightening her clothes out and grabbed a towel to throw over her shoulder.

“Kat, where have you been, it’s getting wild out there— Oh…“ Henrietta had taken notice of the strange man standing with Kara and raised an eyebrow. She grinned and just shook her head, clicking her tongue with a judgmental stare. “Okay, I won’t tell anyone you let him back here, but come now, we need out there, it’s a madhouse!”

Kara … or rather Kat’s face was smiling embarrassedly and she was actually amused by the situation. The fact that Henrietta would hide Kat’s mischief from her was simply hysterical. Nevertheless, she looked at ‘Thorsten’ with a smile. “Sorry mate, my friend here was just looking for the loo,” she responded instinctively.

Henrietta saw right through it though, and grabbed Kat’s hand to lead her back out to the bar. Kara looked back at Casey with hopeful eyes, silently telling him she was simply pausing this moment. Eventually she stopped resisting Henrietta’s pulling and went along with her, and entered a very populated, very busy floor. This was actually a relief to Kara. The more people, the better. More income, more business, and perhaps a better chance for her to slip away to meet up with Casey again. Their discussion was not over.

“Table 7’s yours. They just sat down.”

Wonderful, Kara thought. A couple. That was a lot easier than a pack of fraternity boys or a bride and her cackling bridesmaids. The bar’s owner walked over to Table 7 and looked down at the happy couple. The girl, a blond, looked familiar. Then again, there were many blonds that came through the Abby, so perhaps she just seemed similar to the other women she had seen. The man, however, was someone she was very much acquainted with. This man knew her ins-and-outs, and saw her at one of the lowest points of her entire life. She trusted him with her life on numerous occasions, and even though he was unable to be her guardian, her probation officer after her release, Kara still saw him when she could and upheld her end of their friendship. (That part where you told your partner everything. Everything.) No, Kara hadn't told him about Casey yet, but she felt as if this had been going on a little longer than her own affair. Maybe this was why she hadn't seen him around in a great while.

This man used to be her partner.

“Good evening, you two. What are you having tonight?” It was hard to say it with such a painful smile on her face. She couldn’t help but stare at the two of them, extremely confused as to what was going on. The Captain of the Guard was here with someone other than his wife. This made Kara’s stomach sink. She wasn’t one to talk, no, but in this very moment she was extremely confused, angry, and perhaps jealous of this blond stranger. What the hell was going on? If looks could kill… Kara may have struck Markus down where he sat. But alas, she was not Kara – she realized. She was Katarina Bauer, a complete stranger to Markus and his unnamed cohort.