"So," Agent said as Ghoul turned away, "you want to get out of here?"
Diamond looked at Dr. Death, who was immersed in music with Show Pony.
"What...do you mean by that?"
He laughed. She felt like a moron.
"I mean take a walk," he said, taking her hand, "just the two of us."
Missile's eyebrows rose but a smile crept on her face.
"Uh...yeah," Diamond nodded, "Sure. A walk. Us. Great." she was positive her face resembled a tomato at this point.
"So just grab your gun and-"
"Yeah. Walk. Us."
"You already said that." he smiled and pulled her towards the door.
"Um, wait..." she stopped him and turned back, "Missile?"
"I saw nothing, but you guys mentioned something about target practice." she smiled wide, "You go have fun, you crazy kids."
Diamond smiled and mouthed "thank you" as Agent pulled her away.
"Won't we be in trouble for this?"
They were walking around Route Guano, armed and alert with masks on and guns loaded. Agent had one hand on the gun in his holster and the other holding Diamond's.
"Dr. Death said nothing about me going off alone." Agent said, "And the way I see it, we've got our guns and we've got each other. I think we're fine."
Diamond nodded, but couldn't shake the feeling that she was doing a bad thing.
________________________________________________________________
[Meanwhile...]
"Why so glum?"
"Why so stupid?"
Kobra and Ghoul sat in the back of the Trans Am as Party and Jet fought over the map.
"Nice comeback, jackass," Kobra said, "But seriously. What's wrong?"
Ghoul sighed and rubbed his forehead. The mother of all headaches was beginning to form. He could feel it.
"Nothing," he sighed, "It's nothing."
"I suspect it's concerned-brother problems." Jet said, looking back.
"Maybe it's never-got-the-chance-to-be-a-man problems," Party said, taking his eyes off the road to glance at the map, "See, it's Route 5 we need to be on. Now we're near Zone 4. That's not right."
"Dr. Death is gonna be pissed we're not being quick," Jet said, "Especially after that speech he just gave."
"It's not any of that!" Ghoul said angrily.
"I'm thinking it is." Kobra said, smirking.
"Oh what would you know?!"
"Not a whole lot more than you, when it comes to bitchy teenage girls."
"She's not a-"
"Maybe she is, maybe she isn't," Kobra said, crossing his arms and shrugging, "the point is that she's leaving you behind and you're too stuck in this fantasy of being a parent to realize she's moving on."
"I-she-" Ghoul was at a loss for words, not wanting to believe it.
"Kobra, cut him a break," Party said.
"What? Just because he gets to entertain his little fantasy of being the hero of some little girl who really never needed him in the first place doesn't mean he doesn't need a little bit of a reality check-"
"Shut the fuck up!" Ghoul spat.
"No!" Kobra said just as angrily, "It's not fair!"
"What isn't fair?" Ghoul shot back, "That I get to be happy for once?"
"Yeah, because you're so happy watching her fall for some guy who you're so fucking paranoid about-"
"He's hiding something!"
"Oh give it a fucking rest! You just can't stand to think that she might be starting to depend on someone other than you!"
"Guys! Calm the fuck down!" Party yelled over them. The two Killjoys fell silent.
Suddenly the crinkling of the paper map Jet was holding seemed far too loud.
The sun had started to go down, but neither of them noticed.
"So do you miss her?"
Agent looked at Diamond.
"Who?" he asked, somewhat confused.
"Combat Baby." Diamond said, "You said before when...when we talked that you loved her."
"I do," Agent said immediately. Then he hesitated, "Well...I did."
"What changed?"
"Not much," Agent gripped her hand tighter, "I just got tired of missing her. I'll always miss her though. But...I feel like I don't have to be alone anymore."
"And why is that?"
Agent stopped walking and Diamond turned to face him.
"Because I found someone. Someone who...who makes me feel like I'm not the only person lost in this world. And I'm so glad I found her."
And then he kissed her.
Just like that. No build up, no drama. Just a kiss. Innocent and quick, more a peck than anything else. He pulled away quickly, studying her face.
But it had been a kiss. And it had been her first. And already she missed his lips on hers.
So she grabbed his shoulders hard and kissed him again.
