Barking Spiders! Chapter three is finally here!

Okay, housekeeping time before we get to the chapter. Firstly, I've noticed some of you have been asking me what my updating schedule for this story is going to be, and I can say I don't particularly have one right now. This story is kind of the 'second' on my list of fanfics-to-do since I'm already heavily committed in finishing the last few chapters of an "Avatar: the Last Airbender" fanfic I've been doing for four years. But, once that one's done, I guess I might move this to bi-weekly Friday updates, or perhaps even weekly Friday updates. But, for now, there's no schedule, so just be on the lookout for when it's new. I'll try not to make updates this long in between, though.

Alright, on to the chapter. This one finally gets back to the plotting and scheming we all love about this series. Some new villains, some old villains, some spying, some spies, and Deryn in a dress…because who doesn't love that?

Kraken—Spinning Webs

Deryn had an itch on her bum that she was sure she'd go mad if she didn't scratch it. But, as she looked down at the ruffles around her feet, her heeled shoes clicking across the cement sidewalk, and feeling that barking corset pushing her stomach in a good inch or two, she remembered very well that she couldn't.

Ladies were ladies, of course, and would rather take a bullet than be caught scratching their bum in public.

Another fine 'perk' to being in a skirt.

The only good thing that seemed to come from being in a skirt and walking through London was that when Alek grabbed her hand, she finally didn't have to pull away in a darting haste that they had been seen. Anywhere else, they were seen to everyone as two boys, but for the first time, they were actually what they were. A gentleman and a lady taking a simple walk down the street…minus the fact that they were portraying an engaged couple.

"Blisters Alek, how much longer until we get to this place?" Deryn asked. "These barking shoes are worse to walk in than they are to stand on."

"Stuffed into skirts." Bovril whispered into Alek's ear. Alek, on the other hand, could only squeeze Deryn's hand and offered her a small smile with the shake of his head.

"Dr. Barlow said that Mr. Zeppelin would be at the Covent Garden today." He looked down at the small piece of paper the lady boffin had given him with the place and time. "As to how she knows he was going to be there is beyond me."

"Trust me, half the things that boffin does is beyond you." Deryn said. "She probably has connections all over the bloody planet."

"It's strange, isn't it? We're working for her yet we still don't even know what this Zoological Society is." Alek mentioned. "We're hardly the zookeepers our titles suggest."

Deryn stopped mid-walk for a moment, looking at Alek in a stiff realization that he was actually right. There they were dressed like boffins and walking to some park to spy on a German all for an organization they still knew barely anything about.

"It's a charity organization." Deryn said instead of voice her thoughts, recalling what the lady boffin had told her the day she was offered the position. "Not in any association with the Admiralty, and-" Deryn smirked "-if I quote the boffin correctly a 'force to be reckoned with'."

Alek rolled his eyes."Well if that's all we've got then it's not much." He noted. "You obviously know more than I do. I was just told that we'd be doing odd jobs that were too tricky for any of Dr. Barlow's other associates."

"Tricky," Bovril repeated.

"Hmp, you'd think for all this tricky work we'd at least be able to get proper transportation." Deryn looked about, seeing all the traveling beasties, pulling carriages and carrying people on their backs. She wondered if the lady boffin approved of the fabricated beasts being used for such commercial purposes, being barking tourist carriers and all. Surely Dr. Barlow had fabricated lorises for some kind of purpose, and the fact that she insisted that her and Alek take Bovril with them meant that the beastie was surely created as an informational carrier of some sort. Much like the messenger lizards aboard the Leviathan.

That doctor was a real plotter.

She'd stuck Bovril with Alek when he'd jumped the Leviathan in Istanbul to keep tabs on him and figure out what he was hiding, and every time her loris got in touch with Bovril they'd exchange whispers, trading new words and information…all right back to the lady boffin's ear.

Deryn clenched her fist together at the thought.

"Plotters," Deryn heard Bovril whisper to Alek, and it wasn't the first time the beastie had seemed to have read her mind. Perhaps it was another hidden talent of their fabrication?

"Transportation would be nice, but at least we get a tour." Alek told her, trying to lighten the moment and tugged at her hand, and the gentle clicking of her shoes across the sidewalk continued.

"A tour in a barking skirt." Bovril chuckled.

"Aye beastie," Deryn nodded. "And you can slap annoying right into the sentence."

"You know, one day, all Bovril's going to know how to say is all of your quips." Alek gave them both a quizzical look.

"And that's a bad thing?" Deryn turned her head away from Alek, wistfully pouting. Though the gestured was damped by the smirk she held that didn't seem to fade.

"I never said that," Alek smiled. "To be honest, it was Bovril's usage of your, um, 'way with words' that kept me going when I was stuck with Tesla for three weeks."

Deryn smiled to herself. She often wondered how much Alek had missed her when they were apart. It had been unbearable for her, of course, but the fact that he seemed to share that same loneliness filled her with and urge to kiss him.

She shook her head. It was a daft thought. They were working, even if, at the moment, they were just taking a stroll down the street while holding hands. There'd be plenty of time to kiss when they got home.

It was Alek's abrupt stopping and a tug at her stride that made Deryn realize she had gotten lost in her own thoughts again. She looked to her right, seeing that they had finally reached their destination.

Covent Garden was a large, yet quaint expanse of area, but you'd never be able to tell by the large piles of people stuffed into it. The courtyard was filled with giant Huxleys, and no doubt to Deryn that these were the passenger Huxleys she had been hearing the boffin speak so highly of. From hindsight, they seemed as nothing different but a hot air balloon, but they were, indeed, Huxleys.

The passenger Huxleys tied down in a web of ropes that seemed to be calling to Bovril. Deryn smiled, the loris probably just wanted to climb them. But none had seemed to take flight.

The yard was surrounded by a rounded row of shops, stately halls, museums, and theaters, but the large crowds of people on all ends seemed to dim the beauty of the affair. It all just seemed packed and meshed at that point, and it became all too certain that Deryn and Alek's work was certainly cut out for them.

Even if they did have a picture of Mr. Zeppelin, how in blazes were they going to find him amidst all those people?

"I believe we're here…dear." Alek said slowly and Deryn almost turned to ask if he'd gone mad, calling her 'dear' like she was his little wifey only to remember that, technically, she was. They had a job to do, and for the moment, she had to be a lady stuffed in a corset and skirt, holding her fiancé's hand and smiling while the gentlemen talked.

She sighed. This was going to be worse than an itch on her bum that she couldn't scratch.

0o0

"I wonder why this place is so packed?" Alek asked, having to raise his voice quite considerably when Deryn could ever hear him. She looked around, reporters from all four corners as they pushed through the crowds surrounding the passenger Huxleys.

"With all these reporters around they must be unveiling the passenger Huxleys to the press." Deryn commented, stepping over a rope that was holding down the Huxleys far away as Alek pulled at her hand through the crowds. With all the people around, Deryn wasn't sure if the Huxleys were going to get off the ground at all. But the reporters were still snapping their photos and scribbling in their notepads nonetheless.

"So why would Mr. Zeppelin be here?" Alek stopped for a moment, Deryn was happy he finally noticed the hard time she was having keeping up with his quick steps, taking into consideration that she was in a skirt. He stepped closer to her, whispering so none of nosey reporters would hear their boffin work talk. "It's an awfully crowded place to be hiding Kraken plans."

"Maybe he's not trying to hide them," Deryn whispered as well, their faces were close enough that they could speak lowly, but Deryn refused to let herself get in a fuss over the proximity. "If he's really here around all these reporters, maybe he's trying to get them exposed?"

"I'm not sure, him even having those plans in the first place could be bad for his cover. If people here knew he was a German, there'd be more trouble than he could handle." Alek countered and Deryn chewed her lip.

"Quite a trick." Bovril offered and both Deryn and Alek regarded the beastie.

"Quite a trick indeed," another voice came up from behind them, and when Deryn and Alek both turned Deryn was the first to express her distaste at seeing Adela Rogers behind them. "Greetings bell captain." She smirked.

"What in blazes are you—?" Deryn began to rant but stopped herself. She swallowed hard. The lady reporter did join aboard the Leviathan when they left New York, but she hadn't been aware that she had stepped off at the same stop they did. But, more importantly, how did she know that Deryn was the same 'bell captain' she referred Dylan Sharp to?

That could only mean that the barking reporter knew the whole time.

"You're speechlessness must be on a count of my impeccable knowledge of your gender, am I right?" Adela smiled.

Alek stepped forward, taking squeezing Deryn's hand when he felt it shake.

"What is it that you want Miss Rogers?" Alek asked sternly.

"Oh please, your princeliness," Adela let her voice lower a bit. "I'm hardly thinking to do anything with Miss Sharp's secret, but I am ashamed to say that it wasn't of my own accord that I discovered it."

Deryn rolled her eyes…more fancy talk. And the way she likened Deryn's secret to a 'discovery', like she was the missing link or some other kind of daft scientific expedition.

"Care to explain what it is your doing here and how you know we're here?" Alek demanded to know, not releasing Deryn's hand even though her stance had stilled.

Adela only smiled once more. "You think you're the only one who is zoologically involved?"

"Plotters," Bovril whispered.

"You!" Deryn exclaimed. "But you're a Hearst reporter for the San Francisco Examiner, how can you be working for that boffin?"

"Dr. Barlow does need her people at all for ends, and I am the closest thing she has to a behind the scenes German."

Alek lifted a brow. "You're German, Miss Rogers?"

"Me? Oh, goodness no, I'm pure bread American. But I do work for a Hearst paper, which has its own web of German connections as I'm discovering."

Deryn looked about thoughtfully. These reporters were serious business. All having hidden motivations behind their cameras and scribbles.

"How do we know you're not just throwing us a load of yackum?" Deryn stepped forward, eyeing the lady reporter carefully. "Dr. Barlow may have been quick to spill some secrets in front of you on the Leviathan, but since you are working for Hearst how do we know you're not here to spy on Zoological business?"

"Because I'm your only way in to see what Mr. Zeppelin has planned." Adela offered. "He's holding a small gathering with two other Germans in the west wing of the Jubilee Market to be trading special plans he acquired in America."

"That still doesn't explain why you're here." Deryn crossed her arms.

"Boffin work," Bovril went onto Alek's shoulder that was nearest Deryn, reaching over to whisper to her. Deryn recalled the beastie's words and gave Adela one last look over.

"Hearst sent me after all the commotion with Tesla's machine. Despite being a lady I am one of his most capable reporters." Adela said.

"Highly qualified boffin work." Bovril added and Deryn rolled her eyes. Even the loris was talking fancy.

"So you are a spy." Alek spoke up, mulling over all the words and coming to a conclusion. "You spy for Hearst to keep up with German activity, but who you're really telling all the true news to is Dr. Barlow."

Adela smiled. "Quite intuitive for a prince." She regarded. Alek smiled, that daft smile across his lips all the same for whenever he felt proud for figuring something out. "And close enough for the moment," She turned, cocking her head for them to follow her. "Now hurry along Mr. and Mrs. Scarborough, we have a special meeting of German spies to attend to."

0o0

The details were sketchy regarding Miss Rogers, and Deryn still had a feeling something wasn't quite right. The lady reporter knew too much and didn't have enough evidence to back it up. Had Dr. Barlow really asked her to work for zoological purposes when Adela boarded the Leviathan? And if she really was working for the boffin, why was she still doing Hearst's dirty work?

"I don't know about this, Alek," Deryn whispered as they followed blindly behind the lady reporter to the Jubilee Market. "This lassie could get our bums in a lot of hot water."

"I think our bums are fine, Deryn," Alek laughed a little. "And I hardly think Miss Rogers means us any harm. Besides if she wasn't working for Dr. Barlow how else would she know your secret?"

Deryn opened her mouth to argue, but he did have her stumped there.

"Dr. Barlow must've told her to escort us to this meeting since she was already going to be there, which meant telling your secret would be needed, seeing that you're in a dress." Alek explained further.

"This is all getting too webby." Deryn snorted. It was true, in fact, that there were too many intertwining secrets amidst in this war. The true nature of the Zoological society was only getting more tangled, and it seemed that the lady boffin really did have connections all over the barking planet. Adela Rogers was undercover for both Dr. Barlow and Hearst, but working separately for each. Deryn did remember, though, that one of Hearst's head workers, Philip Diefendorf, was a pure German, and although the lady reporter had refused to believe it when that bum-rag Malone spewed the business, that could've been an act…her and that boffin where plotters after all.

Deryn swore silently under her breath.

"Webby indeed." Bovril chuckled.

"You might want to put your talking beast away." Adela said. "Mr. Zeppelin would be specious if they knew you were walking around with one of Barlow's fabrications."

Alek nodded and looked at where they were heading. Deryn peaked over Adela's shoulder and saw that the meeting place was nothing but a small alley behind a bakery. People milled freely about, making it an odd spot for a foreign spy meeting to take place, but by the looks of the men standing in the shadows, Deryn was sure no one would come anywhere near the men, let alone get close enough and interrupt the meeting

"Go hide in the plant pot over there, beastie," Deryn directed. "It's close enough to hear them but no one will look there."

"Good idea," Alek smiled.

"Plant pot," Bovril repeated and it climbed down Alek's arms right before they were in German sight, taking a comfortably lazy position in the pot that, certainly, no one would think to look for a perspicacious loris in.

"Now, stay quiet and follow my lead, anything off will insight Mr. Zeppelin's senses." Adela warned.

"This Zeppelin fellow must be pretty touchy," Deryn whispered the Alek, but he seemed to ignore her, staring at the men before them and realizing that the man in the center was the Mr. Zeppelin in Dr. Barlow's picture. He seemed even more mysterious in person, wrapped in the shadows of the alleyway.

Alek swallowed, and it was Deryn's turn to squeeze his hand.

"Ah, Miss Rogers, you've finally show up." Ferdinand Zeppelin greeted, and Adela extended her hand for Mr. Zeppelin to kiss gently. His gaze quickly switched, though, wandering to Deryn with interest. Deryn swallowed, it was getting increasingly harder to remember that she was a girl again, which meant men would stare at her…with interest. Miss Rogers gave her a squinted look, and cocked her head over the Mr. Zeppelin.

"This is Mr. Edward Scarborough and his fiancé Lideth, they're fellow inventors who worked on some of the modifications to Tesla's Goliath back in America." Adela said, spewing out lies like it was as natural as breathing. But she had told Deryn and Alek to follow her lead, so they both nodded.

"How tragic, Tesla's death," Mr. Zeppelin smirked, "but he was a pest to our progress." Alek stiffened harshly, as he always whenever someone mention Tesla. Deryn frowned at his gestures, knowing what he was thinking. The minute Alek revealed that he was the one who killed Tesla all the Germans would think he was on their side, but she was glad he took the advice of her and Volger and kept it a secret.

Suddenly, Mr. Zeppelin walked up to Deryn. "Miss Scarborough," He bowed, and Deryn swallowed before extending her hand towards the man, his lips odd against her skin, and she shivered. "You should've have informed me you were bringing guests," Ferdinand turned his attention back towards Adela. "You know how fragile this is."

"I'm aware, sir, but, Mr. and Mrs. Scarborough are hardly plotters," Adela defended. "They're more charity workers, working for whoever will pay them, not to defend their sides. I've been writing a back story on their travels, but they're of no harm to your…progress."

"That does seem to be the American way," Ferdinand smirked towards Miss Rogers. "But very well," he pulled a piece of paper from his jacket pocket, it was crumbled and drawn on, but the scribbles looked highly elaborate for just a simple message. "I need you to get this to Mr. Philip, he's been so tied up in American."

Alek and Deryn both swallowed, knowing very well that Mr. Philip was the same Philip Diefendorf working for Hearst.

Deryn shook her head, and the web continued.

"Very well sir," Adela nodded, "I leave, by boat, for San Francisco with Mr. and Mrs. Scarborough by the end of this week."

"That'll be quite a wait, but it can't be avoided." Ferdinand frowned and then turned towards the other men.

"What exactly are these plans we paid through the nose to be here for, Mr. Zeppelin?" One of the other shadowy men asked in an impatient tone of Clanker talk. "Lest you forget we're in a war."

Deryn opened her ears to her limited German, but she knew Alek understood every word, and could probably speak on the matter. It was, though, best not to flaunt his bilingual status around these men. As Miss Rogers had said, anything off would excite Mr. Zeppelin's senses, and their boffin work couldn't afford any slipups.

"I'm aware," Ferdinand spoke in German as well. He reached into his jacket pocket again, and took out a photograph that time around. It looked intact, precise, and perfectly taken. It was the kind of picture a reporter like Malone wished he could've gotten of something as elaborate as a piece of paper in a woman's hands, but with one quick squint to the photo Deryn was able to identify that the woman in the picture was Dr. Barlow.

"I need you two to see if this Ferdinand Zeppelin knows anything about plans to the Kraken."

Deryn remembered the lady boffin's words. The drawing Mr. Zeppelin had handed to Adela must've been a copied drawing from the picture he'd took…Dr. Barlow's Kraken plans. Even though the boffin had neglected to tell what the plans were for exactly, Deryn was knowledgeable enough to know that whatever the boffin had up her sleeves could become seriously dangerous if in the hands of power hungry Germans two seconds away from losing the Great War.

It was obvious enough that this German had taken a picture of the lady boffin's plans, but as to what purposes was beyond either of them.

"Zoological plans for a sea beast of war, it's enough to ruin all of my plans." Ferdinand handed the photo to the men.

"And what do you intend to do with these plans?" another man asked. "Exposing them could prove fatal for you cover."

"Ha," Ferdinand laughed. "Why would I expose such a priceless aspect of this war? It's more along the likes of beating Mrs. Barlow to the punch in this sea beast."

"You can't possibly be suggesting we fabricate?" the man corked a brow.

"Why would we stick to Darwinist tactics?" Ferdinand snorted as well. "We have the outline, now I can simply modify our machines with the model in mind. How embarrassing it'll be for these zookeepers, thinking they have the upper hand only to find that our water walking machines can copy their beasts."

"And just how soon can you complete this project?" the men asked. "At this rate, the war won't hold out too much longer."

"As soon as Miss Rogers gets the plans to Philip, as quickly as his private funding can permit. And since he's working for Hearst's Journal and Examiner, his funding can be just as quick as any Zoological project."

"I'm putting a lot of hope into this, Zeppelin," one of the man's eyes tightened, holding out his hand for a handshake that even sent chills down Deryn's spine. The two exchanged a tight bonding handshake, and Ferdinand took the photo away from the men before turning back to Adela.

"As soon as you can make it on a boat back to America…" Ferdinand made clear.

"As you wish, Mr. Zeppelin, Mr. Philip will be pleased to finally get his hands on this."

"I'm sure." He turned to Deryn and Alek, and the two erected immediately when he locked gazes with them, the shadows in his black eyes unnerving them. "Mr. and Mrs. Scarborough," He nodded to them, and kissed the back of Deryn's hand before Adela lead them away.

"Now," Deryn heard Mr. Zeppelin's voice before they turned the corner, leaving the German men to their shadow talk. "If we're going to make it to the base in time we have to know when.." but his voice trailed, and Deryn couldn't hear any more in her ear shot.

"Barking spiders," Deryn swore softly.

"You heard it too?" Alek whispered to her and Deryn nodded, clicking her tongue for Bovril in the nearby plant pot and beastie crawled quietly from it, running up Deryn's body until it was on her shoulder.

"I couldn't hear the last part of what he said, but maybe Bovril did?"

Both Deryn and Alek looked towards the beastie and it laughed.

"Zeppelin raid." Bovril said quietly, and even though it didn't repeat the entire sentence even Adela picked up on the severity of the loris's words.

"Barking Spiders," Deryn repeated breathlessly.

0o0

It was good feeling for Alek to finally be back at the complex. It was in no way a home to him yet, not like the Leviathan had been, but when he felt Deryn's hand squeeze his own, he knew that it was someplace they shared together.

"We should go tell the boffin sooner than later," Deryn suggested as they made it up the stairs. "This skirt is getting on my last nerves, but she would want to know what we found while it's still fresh."

"Right," Alek nodded, and instead of going to the top fifth floor, they stopped on the third, ringing the doorbell to the first and only door to the floor the boffin had all to herself. "Dr. Barlow, your assistants would like a word." Alek called, but to his surprise it wasn't Barlow who opened the door, but his wildcount.

"Volger?" Alek corked a brow. He felt as if he hadn't seen Volger in weeks, when it had only been a day. He wasn't even sure what his wildcount's living arrangements where, and although he wanted to jump the conclusion that he had simply been staying with Dr. Barlow, she was married. And quite a proper lady at that.

"Back from work already?" Volger asked stiffly, his face did seem to brighten, though, when his gaze lowered to Deryn, dressed in his lady's daywear.

"Get stuffed," Deryn muttered in the wildcount's direction, already knowing what he was thinking.

"We're, um, looking for Dr. Barlow." Alek shook the un-proper thoughts of why Volger might be staying there out of his mind.

"She's not here at the moment, she had business to attend to for a few hours"

"Boffin work," Bovril chuckled.

"Figures," Deryn rolled her eyes, as did Volger at Bovril's words on Deryn's shoulder.

"May I still come in, Volger?" Alek asked, wondering why he felt so formal around the wildcount.

"Of course, Your Highness," Volger moved from in front of the doorway, allowing him in. The wildcount looked at Deryn, expecting her to follow suit, but she simply stood there.

"You take Bovril," Deryn took the beastie's weight from her shoulders and gave the loris to Alek. "I'll be in our room, this barking skirt is getting to be too much to handle."

"Alright," Alek nodded slowly, getting one last look at her in her daywear before smiling. She still looked so lovely to him, and he stepped forward to kiss her cheek. He simply couldn't resist.

"Reddening," Bovril giggled and Volger let out a discomforting groan towards the loris and Alek's motions.

"Right this way, Prince Aleksander," Volger said and closed the door behind them with no other word to Deryn.

"You two will have to get along eventually." Alek said. He was slightly amused by how much Volger and Deryn were always at odds. It was a little odd between him and his wildcount since Volger learned that Alek had thrown away his princely duties in the Manhattan waters, and finally given into his passion for a 15-year-old midshipman who was really a girl in trousers. But, through all of it, Volger still decided—out of all Alek's men—to stay with him for the duration of his time working for the lady boffin.

"It has to run both ways, Your Highness." Volger answered. "I'd hardly think, though, that you were the person to subject to adolescent feelings, and for a commoner nonetheless."

"You mean you didn't figure out that there was something between us?" Alek asked in interest. He knew that even Newkirk had been suspicious of their closeness, and he didn't even know Deryn's secret.

"Your bond as allies?" Volger smirked. "You weren't as obvious as you thought. But, it was an eventual expectation, you never were too fond of any ladies before, so I figured your time would come soon."

"Deryn's more than just some lady I'm fond of," Alek said quietly, trying his hardest not to blush but he was sure he was failing miserably. Volger walked over to him and placed a firm hand on Alek's shoulder. It was an odd gesture, coming from the wildcount, and Alek gave him a quizzical look that countered his red face.

"Reddening," Bovril chuckled again before jumping from Alek's shoulder and over to Dr. Barlow's loris, whom she oddly left behind. The two beasties chattered happily, exchanging words as usual.

"You're still young," Volger said. "There will be plenty of time for romance later."

Alek could've taken the wildcount's words as humble advice, but he knew Volger better than that. His eyes tightened.

"As long as it's not with Deryn?" Alek asked coldly.

"Only time will tell how long your bond will hold. You two are still enemies, after all, and the whether or not the war ends in Darwinist or Clanker favor, there will always be a bitterness between the two."

"What's between Deryn and I has nothing to do with what we were born into. The fact that I became so close to her even in the midst of this war means that we were meant to be!" Alek yelled, his face still red, but more from anger than embarrassment.

"You are your providence talk," Volger shook his head. "Very well, you may experience this with whom you choose." He gave Alek a thorough look. "I can't promise it'll always be faithful to your good intentions, though."

Alek lifted a brow. "You sound as if you're speaking from experience."

Volger's face made an odd contortion of a saddened fall and a tight coldness. It was only for a fraction of a second, but Alek still caught it.

"So why are you staying here, in Dr. Barlow's room?" Alek felt it right to ask. The wildcount had no shame in picking in Alek's business, so why not dabble in his for a while? Alek was expecting the odd contortion of Volger's face yet again, but he stayed stiff.

"She feels she's in danger of attack." Volger explained, referring to the lady boffin. "Her stolen plans were a very fragile contribution to this war, and the Germans are extremely hostile now that they're losing the war."

"So the zoological society is really behind this?" Alek muttered under his breath. "I didn't think they'd be so invested in making a war beast."

"It's a multifaceted society, Prince Aleksander," Volger regarded.

"So even you know more about it than I do," Alek groaned. He knew he probably could force Volger to tell him what the true nature of the Zoological Society of London really was, but in actuality Alek no longer had the proper right to even have a wildcount. "So tell me, Volger," Alek said upfront, going for more information regardless. "What is the Kraken that the Germans want to so badly?"

"I'm sorry, but if Dr. Barlow hasn't told you then I'm not in liberty to reveal the whereabouts of the Kraken."

Alek let out a deep sigh, clasping his hand to his forehead. Was it so hard to get some answers?

"But we work for her, aren't we at right to know?" Alek countered.

"It's just not my place to tell you, I have no technical connections to this society."

"Then why are you staying in Dr. Barlow's room?"

"For the protection of her apartment, of course." Volger answered seamlessly, not even seeming hesitant or stumped like the reaction Alek was trying to coax from him. The prince turned in a huff.

"Dr. Barlow should be back shortly, I'll tell her to lighten on her secrets." The wildcount offered softly.

"Thank you Volger," Alek said softly. He looked over at Bovril and Dr. Barlow's loris, still happily exchanging words, and Alek could've swore he heard the word Zeppelin as one of them. He scooped Bovril up, petting the beastie lightly and turned to Volger. "I should get back to Deryn." Alek looked towards the door, his want to be with her returning despite not getting any information about the Kraken.

"As you wish, Your Highness." Volger bowed formally and even opened the door for him.

0o0

It was turning early evening when Alek made it back to the room he shared with Deryn, she had already changed out of her lady's daywear and simply had on a white button shirt and pants. Alek smiled at the faraway look in her eyes as she stared out the open window, leaning gently on the sill as the wind blew through her hair. Her eyes closed in a gentle motion and Alek swallowed hard.

Before he knew it he had his arms around her from behind, pressing his lips to her neck and let out a labored breath.

"I take your talk with Volger didn't go well?" She asked, more in a jest than Alek expected.

"It went just as I thought," he muffled against her skin. "More questions than answers."

"He and that boffin alike," Deryn snorted.

"Alike," Bovril said from the bed.

"Well," Deryn pulled away from Alek's embrace, turning to face him instead of the open window. "It's been a longer day than I could've ever imagined having on the ground." She recalled, giving out a laugh.

Alek laughed lightly as well. He knew midshipman Dylan Sharp was used to any kind of airman adventure, but on the ground things seemed so much more structured, even the skulking for the day seemed so much more of a simple task after Miss Rogers got involved.

"We have a whole, evening a head of us…what would you like to do?" Alek asked. Deryn's cackles faded, though, and she shot Alek another one of her looks filled with daring curiosity. Alek tugged her closer, letting his breath run over her lips before he claimed them in a satisfying warmth.

Her body seemed warmer against his amongst the chill air from the opened window, he shivered, but not because the cold. Her hands ran gently through his hair and on his neck, finger twirling around his locks as she hummed in contentment. The sounds she made only egged him on, pulling her closer towards him still, his hands heavy on her back.

"Boffin work," they heard Bovril say in the distance, and although the loris's choice of words was odd for the moment, Deryn and Alek didn't take any attention to it, and only deepened their kiss.

That is until they heard a very obvious—and certainly not Bovril's—clearing of a throat.

Deryn opened her eyes first, breaking away from Alek, to his discontent, when she saw Dr. Barlow in their doorway.

"I'll never understand how that boffin can get in here on her own when this isn't even her room." Deryn muttered to herself.

"Um, hello." Alek greeted wistfully.

"I suppose knocking will have to become a standard when I come here?" Dr. Barlow replied dryly.

"Standard," her loris whispered to her.

"We should talk, ma`am," Deryn said seriously. "We learned a lot today after we met up with that lady reporter you sent us."

"That's good Mr. Sharp, but, exchanging information isn't needed for today." She gave them an odd smile. It was of satisfaction, which Deryn and Alek knew was a rarity in the lady boffin. "You two have put in more than enough for a first day's work." She lifted a bag from her coat pocket, pulling out a small snap wallet and handed it to Alek. "Enjoy your evening, Mr. Sharp, Prince Aleksander," the lady boffin said as she turned. "We have much to talk about tomorrow."

"Zeppelin raid," her loris said and Deryn and Alek's eyes widened. Alek didn't pay much attention to when Bovril and Dr. Barlow's loris where exchanging words when he visited Volger, but since Bovril had heard the entire conversation Mr. Zeppelin had in the alleyway, the lady boffin probably knew a good fraction, if not all, of what was going on.

He shook it off, looking into the change purse the lady boffin had given him and saw their promised week's worth of pay already given to them after only a day's worth of boffin work. Alek's smile grew.

"You've got that daft look in your eye again," Deryn stated in annoyance. "What did that boffin give you?"

Alek didn't answer, he just turned and took her hand.

"Deryn Sharp," He said formally. "Would you do me the honor of being my date to a charming night on the London town?"

Whew, finally done. There was a lot going on in this chapter, but it always ends on a Deryn/Alek note! Next chapter is Deryn and Alek's first official date, and some more of those lovely plotters.

I really felt that the reporter from Goliath, Adela Rogers, would be a good candidate for a reporter/spy. Seeing as how Hearst's business is crawling with suspicious people and how trusting Dr. Barlow was of Adela in the book lead me to believe that she might have recruited Adela for zoological purposes as well. That's all speculation, of course, but it's just something to think about.

And, once again, since I got tons of reviews, I can't reply to them all separately, but I really do appreciate you guy's feedback! Keep reviewing and thank you so much for the motivation!