There was a stifling, choking silence in the room as the two F.O.W.L. agents gazed around the jewelry store. Out of the corner of his eye, Steelbeak noticed that Gabriel clutched her bulletproof vest around herself as if she were freezing. His eyes didn't linger on her for long, darting anxiously around the store, instead.

Gabriel gulped repeatedly; her throat felt tight and dry, and she hugged her arms tightly around her chest. She couldn't help but notice Steelbeak's nervous mannerisms, too; the way he kept crossing his arms over his chest and then uncrossing them, the way he kept looking around as if constantly watched. It was unsettling to say the least, and she began wishing for something to break the silence. But she didn't want to be the one to have to speak. Please, something. Anything! Please happen!

Suddenly, they heard the voices of a couple just outside the door to the Jewel Garden.

"No, please! Come on, don't make me do this!"

"We have to do this, or else . . ."

"Or else? No! We don't! We could just say he didn't show up --"

"Negaduck wouldn't buy that . . ."

"Negaduck can shove it for all I care! And let go of me all ready!"

Steelbeak glanced at Gabriel. "Megavolt . . . and . . . and who?"

Gabriel shrugged. "Like I'm supposed to know?"

Megavolt showed up in the doorway then, as if confirming the first part Steelbeak's guess.

"Now, see, it's not that bad!" Megavolt said, turning around and addressing the shorty cowering behind him.

After an exhausting amount of coercion, the blonde-haired duck stepped into the building, shaking like a leaf on a gusty day. "Let's just get that duck and get out of here!" She hissed, keeping behind Megavolt.

Steelbeak cleared his throat. "Is this some kind of joke? We were expectin' Negaduck. Is he comin', or did we just waste an entire evenin' on nothin'?"

Megavolt glanced at him, startled. "He's not here yet?"

Gabriel shook her head. "Well do you see him? What, so now Negaduck's delegating his work to the local baby-sitter?" She cast a disparaging glance toward Tegwen.

Tegwen shivered under her gaze. "He's supposed to be here, and so is Darkwing. What gives?" she asked, addressing Megavolt.

"Gabe, what exactly did he say on de phone?" Steelbeak asked.

"He said they'd be here at ten," Gabriel answered, clearly annoyed. "It's five after already."



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