Disclaimer TZP is not mine, but if it remains off the air for any longer, I may just have to take it to court. grin
Note If you don't know who Ollie is, you may be confused. I wrote a story about him awhile back. He is basically the TZP equivalent of the token cute fuzzy animal.
A red convertible sportscar zoomed along the magway. The magnetic interstate highway was usually packed with cars, but was at this point deserted. The car was now traveling through a sparsely populated area of the Midwest, so there were few cars to be seen. The driver of the car knew the exact location of the car due to his inner global positioning system, but the two passengers had no idea where they were. The first passenger, a blonde teenager, couldn't care less. To her, this part of the country was all the same- completely boring. What mattered was that they hadn't been bothered by the feds in awhile, causing both driver and passenger to be far more relaxed than either had been in a long time.
The third passenger didn't know who the feds were or why their appearance would be a bad thing. He only knew that the first two were in a good mood, and that made him happy. Now that there was no one else around, he got to play a lot more and ate more regularly, although he normally got to eat better food when the first two were more nervous. The third passenger stuck his head out of the car, letting the wind rush against his face. He wagged his tail, which wasn't strange because he was a dog.
"Enjoying the ride back there?" laughed the girl, reaching her arm back to pat the dog. He licked her hand, and she passed him a potato chip. The dog ate it happily.
The driver frowned. "Ro, that isn't dog food," he said critically, glancing away from the road towards the girl. The car continued to drive straight, as the driver was connected to the car's steering system via a wire.
"Eh, can't hurt," she responded with a shrug. "Besides, he likes it. Don't you?" she asked the dog. Ollie wagged his stubby tail, hoping that this would lead to more food being given to him. Ro passed him another chip, and he ate it happily.
"Hey, Zee, look!" said Ro, pointing to something just beyond the road. It was easy to see what Ro was pointing to- the landscape around the magway was covered in yellow grain, with mountains in the distance and not much else. However, down from a dirt covered off ramp, was a sign pointing to a cluster of tents and rickety rides.
The sign was about a mile away, but Zeta read its contents aloud. "Goldville Carnival- June 4-July 4. Bring the whole family." He cocked his head at Ro. "What is it?"
Ro stared in mock surprise. "Don't tell me you don't know!" she said teasingly. "Mr. Random-20th-Century-Artifact himself?"
Zeta worked through this sentence. "Well," he said, "My alias isn't usually- "
"It's a carnival, Zee," Ro interrupted before he got too far. "An old one. They used to be really popular around the turn of the century. You don't see them in cities so much, but they're still popular out in the middle of nowhere-and no, I don't need to know what state this actually is- like this. There used to be one every September in Hicksburg."
"What do you do at a carnival?" asked Zeta, slowing down to get a better look.
Ro shrugged, thinking. "Well, you play rigged carnival games for crappy prizes, go on rusty old rides until you hurl, and eat bad food."
"Ah," responded Zeta with a nod. Ro's sentence had required a lot of translating on his part, but he understood her tone perfectly. He prepared to speed up again and pass the Goldville Carnival by.
"Hey," said Ro, stopping him with a hand on his shoulder. "Let's check it out, okay? We haven't had Bennett on our tail for awhile, and it should be fun."
Zeta obediently turned onto the off ramp, but looked perplexed. "Fun?" he asked as they drove up. "But I thought you said all you do is 'play rigged carnival games for crappy prizes, go on rusty old rides until you hurl, and eat bad food.'"
Ro nodded. "Pretty much." They pulled up into the dusty parking lot, and Ro swung open her door and hopped out of the car.
Zeta shook his head and followed her lead, but he added "I obviously still don't fully understand 'fun.'"
"Well, it's high time you learned," said Ro with a smirk. She reached into the car and pat Ollie on the head. "I don't think they allow pets, so you wait here, okay, boy? I'll bring you something to eat from inside. . .that is if Zee doesn't give me a lecture on puppy nutrition first." She cast a conspiring glare at Zeta, as if to show the puppy that she was on his side, and Zeta was the enemy here. Ollie wagged his tail in response and licked her hand. Zeta locked the car and put the keys in one of his wrist compartments. Ro grabbed the synthoid by his fictional sleeve, and pulled him into the gates.
Zeta paid for two tickets with his cred card, and the two went inside. Zeta looked around critically. Strange music was being played out of low quality speakers. Children were laughing and running around, bright lights twinkled, and men in striped vests shouted things at passerby such as 'Play the ring toss!' People generally did seem to have the bright smile on their face suggestive of fun, but Zeta wasn't sure what that was.
Then, a loud shriek caught his attention. He looked up in shock. About ten people had been imprisoned in some kind of cage, and were now being spun around and turned upside-down while they screamed in terror. "Ro!" he said in alarm, pointing up at the ride.
"Oh, yeah," said Ro, watching the people spinning around. "That looks like fun. Let's do that one."
"I don't think it's fun, Ro. Those people on the ride are all screaming!" he said, trying to make her understand his concern.
Ro shrugged. "Zee, the screaming's all part of the fun. That's the point of these rides- to get scared. It's fun." His expression was still skeptical, so Ro sighed and shook her head with a smile. "Okay, Zee. We'll start you out small. We're going to get some cotton candy, play a couple of games, and then we'll try the rides. It'll be fun. Trust me."
Zeta did.
It just took some dexterity of the paw, a nudge with the nose, a little push- and the door opened. Ollie wagged his tail in delight, and hopped out of the car, landing on the ground. He gave a yappy little bark and dashed about happily through the dirt, but got tired of that game. Master had gone into the place with all the nice smells. He wanted to go find the nice smells, too. It smelled like food, lots and lots of it, and people who'd give him some.
The little dog trotted along the path, following a family that looked like it was going inside. There was a woman, with dark hair and a lot of perfume to mask her scent, and a boy with short brown hair that smelled a few years younger than Mistress. The boy and the woman smelled a little bit familiar, but not familiar enough that Ollie knew why. Besides, the perfume smell was bothering his nose. He walked in between the boy's legs, and followed him into the park, unnoticed by the ticket collector.
Once they were inside, the woman and the boy walked over to a hot dog stand. Ollie smelled the hot dogs and they smelled good, so he followed. The perfume woman said something in human language. Ollie only understood little bits of the language- the word 'father' and the words 'wait here.' Obediently, Ollie sat under the table, at the boy's feet. Then, the perfume woman left, and returned with a hot dog covered in human food smells. Ollie's tongue dropped out of his mouth. Once perfume woman had gone to get something for herself, Ollie came out from under the table. He knew from experience that small humans were more generous than large ones. The puppy cocked his head at the boy and sat, watching the food hungrily.
"Hello there," said the boy, seeing him. He held out a hand in front of Ollie's nose. Ollie didn't know why humans always did this, as their scents were overpowering enough. The boy smelled like food, so Ollie licked the hand. The boy laughed, and said something in human language, but in the tone humans always took when they liked him.
The boy pet Ollie's head, and felt around his neck. Ollie supposed he was checking for one of the leather belts some dogs wore. He wouldn't be caught dead in a belt. Finally, the boy said something that ended in Ollie's favorite word- 'Hungry?' He barked, and the boy gave him a piece of the hot dog bun. It wasn't meat, but it was still pretty good. Ollie wagged his tail, and yapped, knowing these techniques often led to more food. But the boy was finished, so Ollie trotted off. He didn't go far, however- there was a trash can next to the hot dog stand, and there was a lot of human food in there! Ollie was too small to get in, so he sat next to the can and whimpered.
A little bit later, the boy walked up. Ollie turned around- he had just bought another hot dog, this one without the human sauces that upset Ollie's stomach. The boy put it on the floor, and Ollie ate gratefully. Then, as a reward, he let the boy pet him.
Perfume woman saw this and came over, talking in fast and unhappy human language. The human boy groaned. "Shoo!" said Perfume woman. Ollie sneezed at her scent, and trotted away from the boy. Suddenly, he smelled a very familiar scent- the one that was on the boy and his mother. It wasn't a good scent- Ollie knew this was the scent of someone whom Master and Mistress didn't like. Ollie growled as the scent's owner approached.
"Dad!" said the boy, and ran over to the tall man. The man only nodded at the boy, then frowned at Ollie.
"Shoo!" he said, and Ollie barked fiercely, then turned and ran in case this man was one of the humans who kicked dogs. Ollie didn't like him- he smelled like a cat person. Besides, he had to go find Master and Mistress now! They would want to know about the familiar scent.
"So, this is cotton candy," said Zeta, examining the ball of pink fluff as the boy in the cart handed it to Ro. She tore off a small piece and took a bite.
"Yep," she responded as the candy dissolved in her mouth.
"As far as I can tell, it's just spun sucrose and artificial pink coloring around a paper cone," he responded as he watched her eat.
"I know," responded Ro. "Isn't it great?"
"Hmmm," said Zeta noncommittally. He really had never been quite sure what constituted good and bad human food. Obviously food had a certain appeal, but it was nonsensical as it seemed humans tended to like those foods that were worst for them. This fair was a great example- it seemed as though every food possible had been deep fried and put on a stick.
Ro smirked at Zeta, and grabbed his arm. "C'mon," she said. "I have my cotton candy now, so let's go do something fun."
"Alright," Zeta agreed, as Ro grabbed his arm and pulled him along. He let her pull him as he wasn't sure where to go. They walked out of he food area and into an area filled with rides just like the first one. On the ground, there were also many tents covered with flashing lights and playing music. Ro looked around, when someone shouted at Zeta.
"Hey, why don't you come win your girlfriend a prize?" shouted one of the men in striped vests. Zeta glanced to see if he was talking to someone else, but saw no one, so walked towards the man.
Ro blushed, drawing back. "I'm not his girlfriend," she defended. But Zeta approached the booth and looked around. The back of the wall was covered with balloons, and there were five darts on the table.
"What are the rules of this games?" he asked, fingering the darts. They were made of cheap plastic, and had worn feathers on the end.
The man grinned, happy to see someone playing his game. It was fairly obvious that the young man and he girl were together, and that meant good money. He would feel like he had to impress the girl, so he would keep spending until he won. The man had already made a fortune off that particularly inept red-haired man with his girlfriend. He had played nine games in a row until the dart man had felt bad, and sold him a prize. Perhaps he'd be just as lucky this time around. "Well, sir," he said congenially, "You can get three darts for two dollars, or five darts for three dollars. Then, you throw the darts to pop the balloons, standing behind the yellow line on the ground. If you get two balloons, you get a small prize, three balloons get a medium prize, and five balloons gets your choice of any prize."
Zeta scanned his cred card into the scanner next to the stall for three dollars. The dart man handed him five darts. Zeta stood behind the yellow line and stared at the balloons. He positioned all five darts between his fingers, and then threw them at the board. There was a loud sound as, against all logic, six balloons popped at once. It appeared that the last dart had landed at such an angle that it had impaled two balloons. "What prize do I get for that?" asked Zeta.
"Zee!" Ro groaned. She pulled him over, and whispered, "What do you think you're doing?"
"Winning," Zeta responded. Ro opened her mouth to complain, but then she just gave up, sighing and sitting down on a bench to finish her cotton candy. Zeta smiled at the dart man, who seemed to be in shock.
"Your choice, sir," he said resentfully. Six balloons at once? It simply wasn't possible!
Zeta frowned, and finally picked one of the colored fish in tanks. The dart man knew that it could've been much worse- he could've picked one of the giant stuffed animals- so he put a small goldfish in a plastic bag and handed it to Zeta.
"You got a fish?" asked Ro in shock, unable to remain quiet any longer. Zeta nodded. She brought a hand to her temple in exasperation. "A fish? Are you crazy? A puppy was bad enough, but a fish? How can we keep it? How can we possibly run with a fish?"
"It looked unhappy in that tiny tank. I thought perhaps we could get it a bigger one." He smiled, and Ro was at a loss of words.
"A fish," she muttered under her breath.
"What should its name be?" asked Zeta, oblivious to Ro's horror. The two walked away from the stall.
"I'm not naming the stupid fish. Besides, it probably won't even live that long, Zee. I got one of those carnival fish once- when I was not on the run from the feds, I might add- and it died overnight."
"I'm sorry," said Zeta compassionately, putting his arm around her shoulder. "You must have been sad."
"I don't care!" exclaimed Ro, still annoyed with him. "It was a stupid fish! All it does is swim around and blow bubbles. It's so dumb that if you overfeed it, it'll eat itself to death." Zeta considered this, remembering the deep fried foods.
"So, do you want to go on a ride now?" he asked, looking around at the various carnival rides and then at Ro.
"You can't bring your fish on rides, Zee," responded Ro simply, glaring daggers at the goldfish swimming around in its plastic bag.
"How about that ride?" asked Zeta, pointing at the Ferris Wheel. "It looks slow moving enough that it won't cause any problems, and the view from the top should be fantastic."
Ro shuddered looking up at the giant Ferris Wheel. There was rust on all the hinges, and it creaked as it moved. "That thing looks as though it hasn't been repaired since the 20s. You know I'm terrified of heights."
"I thought being scared was fun," said Zeta matter-of-factly.
"Yes, but you have to- not like-"Ro sighed. "I can't really explain. You have to want to be scared, right? It's a good scared." She shrugged.
Zeta smiled. "I don't think I'll really understand, Ro. Why don't you go on a ride you'll find fun, and I'll go on this one with my fish. We can meet later back at the cotton candy stand."
"Sounds good," conceded Ro. "See ya later!" She headed off towards one of the enormous spinning rides. The lines appeared to be very long, so Zeta assumed they were generally fun rides, but he still didn't really understand. He got in the short line for the Ferris Wheel, and very quickly boarded. He glanced at his fish in the bag, and frowned. Yes, he knew the fish would be inconvenient, but he didn't intend to keep it. He had just liked it- it was an odd shade for a goldfish, and very pretty. It was always a surprise to him when he understood an obscure concept such as beauty, so he liked to see it. He would give it to someone else on the way out. He didn't know why Ro got so angry with him. Zeta leaned back in his seat, and watched the carnival pass. He could make out the people on the ground below. . .having fun.
A familiar face caught his eye. Was that. . .yes, it was! He grinned broadly. The next time the wheel reached the bottom, Zeta got off, and headed in the direction where he had noticed another of his friends.
Oliver ran along the carnival, sniffing out for the right scent. This was difficult- Master's scent was obviously different, but different in the sense that it was practically non-existent. So, the obvious solution was to find Mistress. Ollie felt that Master was his, well, master, although it usually seemed that Mistress was the alpha. But he liked Mistress, as she was usually kind to him and gave him treats. Also, it was apparent that Mistress was Master's mate, or at least prospective mate, so he felt obligated to like her. Finally, he found Mistress's smell up ahead.
Ro sighed and took a sip of the soda she had bought, peering at the long line ahead of her. She wouldn't have thought this many people lived in Goldville, let alone came to carnivals. She hoped it would hurry along- she was impatient to try out the ride. She and Zeta had been at the carnival for over an hour now, and they still hadn't done anything. Although, if she thought about it, it they hadn't had a bad time, either. Things were never boring with Zee, just weird. And that was okay- much better weird than boring.
A bark caught her attention, and Ollie ran up towards her, finally stopping at her feet. "Hey, Ollie!" she said in surprise. "How'd you get out of the car?" Ollie barked frantically, stopped, sniffed the air, and began barking again. Ro frowned and scooped him up under her arms, awkwardly clutching the soda between her arms and the dog. "You have to calm down, or you'll get us both kicked out," she reprimanded. Ollie heard her tone, and stopped barking. But he didn't look quite satisfied. Ro stepped out of line begrudgingly, and decided to go find Zee and take their dog back to the car. Unfortunately, she was too busy calming Ollie down to notice the tall man walking along very briskly with his son in tow. Ollie began to bark again, as Ro and the man collided.
"Hey! Watch where you're going!" Ro shouted angrily at him. Ollie had leapt out of her arms before the collision and so was safely on the ground, but she had very nearly spilled her drink all over her clothes. Still, the man whom she had collided with wasn't very sympathetic.
"You watch where you're go-" he responded, and then stopped, as he slowly looked up and took in the girl standing there. Ro looked up at him just as slowly. He stared at Ro. Ro stared at him. They both stared for a few seconds, completely frozen. Then, Ollie's barking brought Ro to her senses.
"Uh-oh," she said quietly.
"Freeze!" he shouted. Ro turned and ran, dog trailing behind between her legs. Agent Bennett chased after. Ollie barked. Bennett pulled out a handgun. "I'm warning you, Rowen!" he shouted. People around them began to move away.
"Dad, what are you doing?" asked his son.
Ro slowed down, knowing Bennett was serious. "Sheesh, who brings a handgun to the carnival?" she thought to herself. She glanced around for a method of escape, and noticed the narrow passageway between the cotton candy stand and the arcade. It was unlikely a man the size of Bennett would be able to slip through there, but it would be no problem for her. She glanced at Bennett, then darted into the passageway.
Bennett prepared to follow, when he felt a sharp pain in his leg. Ollie had gotten quite a good hold on the NSA agent with his growing teeth, and was now attempting to stop the agent from following Ro.
"Shoo!" He shouted at the dog. The dog didn't move. He kicked his leg, and the dog let go, but it sat in the pathway, teeth bared. Bennett cursed under his breath and raised his handgun.
"Dad!" said James Bennett Jr. in horror, grabbing his father's arm. "You weren't really going to shoot a puppy, were you?"
"Of course not. . .that is to say. . .I uh. . ." Bennett tried to explain sheepishly. Finally, he threw his hands up in the air exasperated. "It was on stun!" he said defensively. James Jr. raised an eyebrow accusingly. Bennett sighed. The dog was gone, and Ro was, as well. He grabbed the small radio in his pocket, and spoke into it. "Rush, I'm going to need all agents to come to my location as soon as you can gather them." There was a pause as Agent Rush's voice crackled back into Bennett's radio. "Yes," he responded slowly, "I am aware my location is currently a small carnival in Goldville, Arkansas. I saw Rowen." Another pause. "How should I know why they'd be at a carnival? Just send the agents, Rush. Hurry."
Meanwhile, on the other side of the carnival, a young red head was trying in vain to win his date a prize at the ring toss. The man behind the booth was beaming- he had been tipped off about this player by his friend in the dart throw booth, and the customer was even more inept and desperate than the ring toss man had hoped. He gave an encouraging nod as the customer swiped his cred card, buying his seventh game. The previous six had been completely unsuccessful. He actually felt bad for his poor customer, as his date was standing nearby trying quite unsuccessfully not to laugh as the seventh game yielded no results.
"Tell you what," he said in a friendly tone. "Buy another game, and you can have unlimited rings. Prize guaranteed."
But his hapless customer had had enough. "I'm not wasting any more of my money here!" he said indignantly. "It's very obvious these games are rigged." He sniffed, and rubbed his hand on his shirt proudly. "I'll have you know I'm a federal agent, and with my training, if I can't beat these games, I'd like to see who can!" He glared at the ring toss man. "You're lucky I don't report you."
"Orin, please!" said the woman behind him, trying to turn her amused smile into something more sympathetic. "Calm down, okay? It's not a big deal." The agent folded his arms and scowled. "Everyone knows the games are rigged, Orin," she said to pacify him.
"Obviously," said West, still scowling. "I'm gonna get a soda," he said finally. "Want anything?"
"Um. . .why don't you get me a Diet Cola," she said sweetly. "I'll just. . .wait here while you get it."
"Sure thing, Marcia. Be back in a sec!" said West, cheering up as he walked off to get the drinks. He stuck his hands in his pocket, and began whistling off-key. As soon as the whistles could no longer be heard, she walked up to the ring toss booth.
"One game, please," she said, and swiped her own cred card. She then proceeded to land four out of five of the rings onto the correct pegs. However, when the ring toss man began to ask her, slightly disappointed, which prize she wanted, she said "It's alright. I just had to get it out of my system." Then she began to laugh, inconspicuously but with great amusement.
"Agent Lee?" said a familiar voice from somewhere behind her. Startled, she turned, and saw the familiar figure of the synthoid Zeta standing there, for some reason holding a bag with a goldfish in it in one hand.
"Zeta?" she said, once she recovered from her surprise. "What are you doing here?"
He shrugged, or more accurately lifted his shoulders briefly in what looked a lot like a shrug. "I've never been to a carnival. Ro wanted us to go." He frowned. "But then she got bored and went on a different ride. What are you doing here?" He smiled, and glanced at the game she had been playing. "Have you been having fun?"
"Um. . ." she said, glancing nervously around. "Yes, I have, but listen, you really need to go. See, I'm here with my boyfriend and-"
"Ah," said Zeta, nodding. "Don't worry, Ro's explained that. I won't bother you when he's around."
"No," said Lee quickly. "I don't mind you being around, but the thing is, my boyfriend is-"
"Hey!" said a voice. West had just turned the corner, and stood staring at Zeta. He dropped the two drinks he was holding, and spilled the soda all over himself and the ground. "Marcia, that's him! The robot!"
"Look after my fish," said Zeta, and without warning pressed the bag containing the goldfish into the former agent's hands. Then, he took off running.
"Stop, robot!" shouted West, running after but slipping on the spilled soda and falling. He reached into his pocket, aimed at Zeta, and began to shoot. Then, he noticed that he was attempting to shoot with his wallet, and that he didn't have a gun with him.
"Come back here!" he shouted at Zeta's retreating back as Lee helped him to his feet. "I'm a government agent, you know!" But it was no use. He had disappeared.
"C'mon!" he said frantically to Lee. "We gotta go after him. I'm gonna bring him in this time!"
"Orin," said Lee sternly, or about as sternly as the good-hearted agent ever got. "You know how I feel about Zeta. Can't we just forget about him this once?"
West shook his head dramatically. "Sorry, Marcia. But I just can't let your personal feelings get in the way here. I know you think he's good, but you're wrong." His eyes narrowed. "The robots are never good. They're always working for a secret robot society that wants to overthrow humanity and become the dominant race on earth." He gave Lee a look as if this was obvious.
Lee put her hand to her temple and groaned. "Orin," she complained. "You've been watching Adam Heat vids again, haven't you?"
"No!" he said indignantly. Lee frowned at him. "I don't have time for this. I have to catch the robot." His eyes drifted across the carnival scene, watching for suspicious movement. Then, he noticed the tails of a dark blue trenchcoat disappear behind a ride. "Zeta," he shouted, "It's time to feel the Heat!" Then, he took off running.
Agent Lee only shook her head and sighed. She wasn't really worried for Zeta, knowing her ex-partner. But she was sort of worried for West.
Ro sped around another game, ignoring the shouts of the carnival workers trying to get her to play their game. She was headed for the cotton candy stand, hoping that Zeta would show up there before Bennett did. She was almost there, when suddenly she crashed into another person running. The impact felt like hitting a brick wall.
"Is everyone just trying to get in my way?" she shouted after the obligatory curse.
"Ro?"
"Oh, it's you," she said to Zeta, her temper calming down. "Should've known." She glanced around and then said "Look, we've gotta split. I've got Bennett on my tail!"
"Really?" said Zeta calmly. "That's strange, I'm being chased by Agent West."
"What?" asked Ro. "It seemed like Bennett was just here with the family, on a day off. Why would he have brought agents?"
"I don't think West was on duty," Zeta mused. "He wasn't wearing a uniform, and he was with Agent Lee. I believe they were on a date, unless I misread her."
"Really?" Ro grinned. "West and Lee were-"she stopped. "This is stupid. Why are we talking when we have two agents chasing us?"
"Good point," noted Zeta. He grabbed her and pulled her behind the cotton candy stand. A few seconds later, Bennett ran past, gazing around with his holoviewer. Zeta opened the back door to the cotton candy stand, and the two crouched down behind the robot that made the cotton candy. Bennett lowered his holoviewers, when suddenly Agent West ran right into him.
"West?" asked Bennett in disbelief. "What are you doing?"
"Boss!" said West frantically. "I saw the synthoid! But I didn't have my gun, and he got away." He paused. "It was really Lee's fault," he said finally, on the defensive.
"So, you were here with Agent Lee at this carnival when you spotted the synthoid?" asked Bennett slowly.
"That's right," said West proudly. "Most agents wouldn't have noticed, but when you have years of field experience like I do. . ."
"But why were you here? Aren't you supposed to be on duty?" asked Bennett, raising an eyebrow.
"Uh. . . "said West simply, looking sheepishly at the ground.
"Nevermind, I don't think I want to know," Bennett responded shortly. "Just help me find the synthoid. Hopefully, Rush will be here with reinforcements soon enough."
"I'm on it, Boss!" said West enthusiastically, giving Bennett a salute. The two left, Bennett whipping around and scrutinizing random passerby with his holoviewer.
"That was close," whispered Zeta once they had left.
"No, that was stupid," complained Ro. "I mean, come on! It's the Goldville Carnival! What're the odds that we'd run into West and Bennett here separately, and no, don't you dare calculate the actual odds."
"Well, it is an interesting coincidence," said Zeta, stopping his calculations immediately.
"Right. Real interesting," said Ro, rolling her eyes. "Who next, Krick? I don't think we've seen him in awhile. . ."
"More likely Agent Rush, unless we leave right now," said Zeta cautiously.
"For once, you're making sense," agreed Ro. They very slowly crept out of the cotton candy stand, and Zeta covered them with a hologram of a young teenaged couple. As soon as they'd stepped outside, Ollie came running up, wagging his tail. Following was Agent Lee.
"Zeta?" she asked. "Ro? Is that you?"
Zeta nodded. "Yes. It's us. Is there any chance you could help us get out? Bennett is here, too."
"Uh-oh. I really hope Orin didn't skip work today. Bennett can be a real stickler." She smiled. "But I'm sure both of you know that. There's a back gate that's only used for the carnival animals. Bennett probably won't have noticed that."
"Thank you," Zeta smiled. "It was nice seeing you again."
"Any time, you two." She waved as they headed off in the direction of the back gate. "Watch out, and don't be too hard on West. Be as hard on Bennett as you like." They waved back at her, then hurried to reach the gate. No one wanted to deal with whomever Rush might bring.
Twenty minutes later, Zeta, Ro, and Ollie were driving again, out on the magway. The drive was hardly leisurely, as Zeta was speeding to put as much time between his car and Bennett as he could, but it had little effect on the synthoid. He turned to Ro and smiled.
"So. . .did you have fun at the carnival?" he asked.
She stared at him. "What did you say?"
"I asked if you had fun," he repeated.
"I know, I heard you. I just didn't believe it." She laughed. "Did I have fun at the carnival?" He smiled and nodded, missing her sarcasm. She stopped laughing, paused, and then said "Y'know what, Zee? I actually think I did."
Author's Note My first TZP story since December! Well, not technically. I started writing this last year when I went to the annual county fair with a friend of mine. I forgot about it since it was bad and full of inside jokes that no one else would possibly understand. I remembered it now that the fair is coming back to town, rewrote it, and took out all the inside jokes with the exception of Zeta's poor fish, based on my own bad experience with the sad little carnival fish. Anyways, not such a bad fic for a long time out of the TZP section, eh? Well, I didn't think so. And my first ever explicitly West/Lee fic, a ship I've always supported.
On another note, I bothered to proof read this fic! My atrocious grammar and spelling shouldn't be nearly so bad as it usually is! Hooray!
And I just wanted to say, that if anyone found it strange that Ro would like crazy carnival rides but be afraid of a Ferris Wheel, I'm basing it on my own fear of heights. I really, really, really hate Ferris Wheels.