Tegwen glanced back toward Bushroot and Megavolt, who had already started up their rivalry. Both were taking turns acting with false bravado at any attack that may come her way. One would manage to find some way to make the other lose their position, then swoop in beside Tegwen to carry on the guard.

Of course, they were always behind Tegwen, neither bothering to actually come forward enough to protect her from Gabriel or Steelbeak. Although this time, there didn't seem to be an attack coming. In fact, Gabriel was being downright friendly. And, somewhere deep in Tegwen's heart, she yearned for a friend. A female friend, whom she could go do things with -- shopping, bar-hopping, talking about boys. Griping about a common enemy. Her eyes strayed briefly to Steelbeak.

As if to punctuate her own thoughts, Gabriel joked, "Hey, if you let them decide what you're going to wear, you'll either end up in a frumpy jumpsuit or a fig leaf. It's your choice." She held out her hand to Tegwen.

"I'd go wit' de Fig Leaf, personally," Steelbeak said with a grin, hoping maybe he could start winning Tegwen over as easily as Gabriel had.

At that comment, Tegwen resolutely grabbed Gabriel's hand. "That tears it, let's go." But inwardly, she wasn't so confident in her choice. Something tells me I'm going to regret this. It's a little late in life for the fates to show me any kindness. Unless . . . They're making up for lost time? Surprisingly, there was still a small spark of optimism.

"Great! Let's start at one end of the mall and work our way down, okay? Sound good?" Gabriel grinned. Not even waiting for Tegwen to agree, she said, "Oooh this is gonna be fun!"

"I can't believe this . . ." Tegwen shook her head, following the previously bitter agent out of the store.

Steelbeak narrowed his eyes as he watched the pair leave. "Somet'in' stinks in de state o' Denmark. 'N' I don't like aforementioned stinky t'ing runnin' off wit' plans of her own." It wasn't right that he, the top agent of the Fiendish Organization for World Larceny, was being left behind by two attractive women. He should be the one leaving --with at least one of them on his arm, if not both. Now that would be a sweet deal. Instead, he was left standing like an unpicked wallflower at a dance.

His eyes played over the other two left behind. One was a nearly bald, bookish rodent who collected light bulbs; the other a scientist who had turned his experiment on himself. A geek and a nerd -- not the right crowd for someone of his stature to be seen associating with. Still, he needed to break the uncomfortable silence before something else happened. Something worse.

"'Ey, you guys wanna go get a pizza or what?"



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