---
"Can I call you Adam?"
"Familiarity, first step."
"Tell me...what's the most attractive thing about being a spy?"
"You won't get anywhere with me, you know." Smug. "I helped devise the MI-6 interrogator's code."
"...good. We fit."
Surprised. "Fit?"
"You're the mindbreaker, I'm the mindhealer." Pleased.
Vaguely exasperated, if anything. He looks away for a moment, then looks back. "The most attractive thing about spying is telling lies."
"Did you just tell one?"
Shaking his head. "No."
"And how deep does your lying go?"
Puzzled, or maybe he doesn't want to go here. "How do you mean?"
"Do you...lie to yourself?"
Without hesitation. "Of course. Every time you--go in the field, you have to leave your real self in the park."
"But do you lie to yourself?"
"About what?"
"Your love for your dead wife?"
Disbelieving. "I don't lie about that." His voice is different, abruptly very serious.
Soft. "How do you know?"
"I don't lie about that."
"Are you sure?"
"I don't. Lie. About that."
Nodding. "Good. But you lie to yourself about her being dead."
---
Now to set him up on
