Author's Note: I heard about this challenge and I wanted to write something because I love drabble challenges—problem is, it kind of got away from me a bit. Oops!


Trendsetting


Sameen rummaged through her wardrobe (which was really a dog-eared cardboard box) with a sigh—almost every single item of clothing had a knife tear or bullet hole in it. Eventually she found a black t-shirt with only a tiny hole in the back hem and slipped it on. She contemplated her options: one; she could spend the day mending everything by hand with a needle and thread, or two; she could go shopping for new clothes.

Her employer was a really wealthy guy and Sameen was sure he'd want his dog walked—no contest.


She tied Bear to a railing just outside the store where he could still see her and she could still see him through the automatic glass doors. Sameen walked two laps of the store as recon before she stopped to examine a shelf of t-shirts. There were several colours but it was the black she was interested in. She lifted two t-shirts off the shelf, had second thoughts, and picked up three more. That would keep her going for at least a week.

With the t-shirts and two pairs of skinny jeans—black, of course—slung over her arm, Sameen checked out the coats. She inspected a few, but found to her annoyance that even with the massive price tags none seemed to have real pockets, let alone pockets that could hold a few grenades and spare magazines.

It was then that a young woman in heels that were way too high walked over to her and took in the items Sameen had draped over her arm. The attendant clicked her tongue and shook her head so hard her long earring hit her in the eye.

Sameen raised an eyebrow at the attendant. "There a problem here?" she asked in a tone that would have sent a sensible person packing.

"Going all black is a really bad styling choice," the attendant said with a massive, bright smile—and no regard for her own personal safety, apparently. "I mean, you've got the figure—flaunt it! Break up the black with a pop of colour. Colour blocking is a trend from last year that's really going the distance..." She pulled a bright pink floral-printed blouse seemingly out of nowhere. "Or you could try floral prints with bold colours to go with those jeans," the attendant rambled on, unaware of the increasingly potent death-stare that was pointed in her direction.

"A statement necklace, too, don't forget..." At long last, the attendant seemed to notice Sameen's expression (even if she couldn't see the hand behind Sameen's back that was twitching for her gun) and stuttered to a halt. "Are you okay, madam?" the attendant asked uncertainly, taking an involuntary step backwards.

Suddenly John Reese appeared beside Sameen. He flung an arm over her shoulders and gave the attendant a disarming smile. "Please don't mind my sister..." John looked down to see the death-stare aimed at him and amended, "...'s cousin—twice removed. Heh." The smile remained in place.

John stilled Sameen's twitching hand behind her back. "We'll just be going then, have a nice day," John said to the confused attendant before steering Sameen away. He threw a handful of bills at the girl behind the till without stopping and led Sameen through the automatic glass doors.

John held Sameen's new purchases while she untied Bear. "Why are you following me? I can go and get clothes myself, you know, I'm a big girl. Did Finch send you after me?" she asked, feeding Bear a treat from her pocket that was no doubt unauthorised by Finch.

"That attendant's Number came up," John replied easily as they began to walk. Bear reached up to sniff at the bundle of clothes John carried.

"Oh, relax," Sameen said, the 'duh!' implied, "I wasn't going to shoot her—just scare her up a little."

"She had a point, though—have you tried wearing navy?"


THE END