A/N: A short story from a Leverage AU with my lovely friend. This is dedicated to him!

Ryuunosuke was the first to react to the sound of footsteps from the next corridor.

"Kiss me," he said, stepping closer to her.

Rita stared back at him blankly for a few moments, because there was no way that she had just heard him correctly.

"...pardon?" she managed weakly.

"Look, I don't like this any more than you do—" clearly he was operating under a severe misunderstanding of just how much she would like that "—but we're going to look significantly less suspicious if we're caught... fraternizing in the hallways rather than just loitering around and if we get checked they're going to find communication devices and then we won't get out of this without a physical fight..." Ryuunosuke was speaking so fast and stumbling over his words that she couldn't get a word in and just helplessly opened and closed her mouth a few times in the hope of finding a moment to say something.

"Ryuunosuke," she started when he paused for breath. The footsteps were louder now, definitely just around the corner, and his expression had paled. "I'd love that, actually, but there's no need to worry abou— "

"We don't have time for this," he snapped, and suddenly he had one hand on her waist; the other on her cheek, tilting her face up towards him. He closed his eyes, leaned in, and the last thing she registered before her mind went into overdrive was a mumbled "sorry".

Ryuunosuke was a better actor than she had given him credit for. She could almost believe that he was kissing her of his own volition rather than in a last ditch attempt to keep their cover. He had one hand still on her waist, shifting to bring them closer together... and, forgetting herself, she wrapped both arms around him.

The owners of the footsteps passed by them without a word.

Rita managed to straighten up against the wall behind her, and gently push Ryuunosuke away. One of the passing guards raised a hand in acknowledgement; she returned the gesture. Somewhat dazed, Ryuunosuke looked back and forth in confusion.

When both of the guards had turned the corner, he looked at her for an explanation.

"Jin already bribed them before we arrived," she started, her face red. "I... I thought he'd told you already, and I was trying to explain—"

"Right," Ryuunosuke said heavily, pointedly looking anywhere but at her. "Right. Ok. Let's finish this assignment before we run into anyone else, and then I'm going to have a few words with Mitaka."