verdantgt | Spooks Fic for kirsteena

Viv wanted a Tom and Lucas mentor fic. I hope you like!

It wasn't that Tom was feeling frustrated. He did understand that he was the junior agent and he was learning quite a bit. It was that he wanted to get out in the field more and have more responsibilities. He knew something was going on. The grind was more active than it usually was. There was also a stream of people going in and out of Harry's office. Tom tried to catch snippets of conversations but nothing that he overheard yielded much information. It definitely had something to do with Russia. Tom was rubbish with foreign languages, so he did understand why he wasn't being utilized. It still chafed.

The door to Harry's office swung open and Tom glanced up, trying not to be too noticeable that he was interested in what was going on. Lucas North nodded his head briskly once to something that Harry said and the body language between the two men indicated that it wasn't good news. Tom's curiosity only grew with that but before he could angle himself closer to hear what was going on, Lucas called out to him. "Quinn, grab your coat."

He was almost out of the chair before Lucas could finish his statement, coat in hand. There was a brief flash of humor in Lucas' eyes before he turned to leave the grid, confident that Tom was following close behind.

The lift doors slid shut and Tom stood patiently silent waiting for Lucas to explain what he was going to do. Or at least give him some direction.

"We're heading to the Royal Garden Hotel where a Russian delegation is staying. You'll be providing surveillance mainly. We believe that Kuznetsov will be passing dangerous information to an Indian extremist. The rumored meet will happen in Holland Park but we want a face that will blend in the crowd on them from the beginning, to the meet in the park."

Lucas reached into his pocket and pulled out a communications device. He planted the microphone on the button of Tom's shirt and handed him the ear piece. "Put this in. You'll be able to hear and speak to me and Colin."

Tom took the device and put it in his ear, surprised at how comfortable it felt. He was a bit taken aback to hear Colin speaking to Lucas clearly as if he were standing next to them in the lift.

"Can you hear us, Tom?"

The only indication on his expression that he was surprised by Colin's voice in his ear, was a slight widening of his eyes. "Yes. You're coming in quite clear."

"Good. You can speak in either a normal voice or lowered to a whisper. This equipment can pick it all up. Try it lower." Colin wanted to make sure that it was working correctly on Tom.

He felt a little foolish but nonetheless, lowered his voice to a whisper. "How's this?"

"Brilliant. You're good to go." Colin's voice sounded crisp and clear in his ear. It was an odd sensation.

The edges of Lucas' lips twitched with a smile as he watched his protégé become accustomed to the new technology. "Don't speak too loudly or someone will think you're mad. I've even put my phone to my ear to disguise it as conversation."

Tom smiled. "No cliché of hiding behind a magazine or newspaper, then?"

"Too obvious." Lucas agreed with a chuckle. "They'll be watching for that." He pulled out a picture of their targets, the Russian and the Indian national, and handed them to Tom. "We're not anticipating any problems but it's just as likely they'll meet behind closed doors in the hotel. We have people in place as hotel staff if that does happen. You're just to observe them in the lobby and follow them out when Kuznetsov leaves. There are operatives in place along the route so if you're spotted we'll pull you off and let others follow to the park."

Tom nodded his head once and handed the pictures back to Lucas. "You want the meeting to take place." Instead of a question, as it could have been, it was a statement.

Lucas was impressed with that but his expression didn't reveal it. He'd known that Tom had good intuition and was intelligent from the mock scenarios in training, but he hadn't expected him to catch on so quickly. "Yes. If the meet doesn’t happen, it will just occur at another time and place. We might not be so lucky again and be there. We have operatives who will translate during the meeting and once we know exactly what's being said, we can act on it."

It had been a hunch on Tom's part and what he would have done, but he never expected Lucas to confirm. His expression remained stoic but there was a light in his eyes at the unacknowledged approval from his mentor. "I'll assume I'm not to be one of the people translating." His tone held wry humor.

"No." Lucas deadpanned and stepped out of the lift when the doors slid open. "We play people to their strengths." He teased Tom with a smirk over his shoulder.

Tom rolled his eyes as he followed him out but a smile did make its way to the surface.