Author's Note: Day Eight! Man, it took me forever to get started with today's story, I was entirely too distracted by Minecraft =S but I got it done and even though it's not as good as I would have like it to be, there's always tomorrow =)

But anyway, today's numbers were picked by one of the other Delivery Drivers at work, a really awesome guy called Mark =)

Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, except the KitKat Chunky I stole from my dad's secret chocolate stash... wait... oh well, it's mine now *nomnomnom*

Summer Muggin' Had Me a Blast...

It was a warm Summer's day in the middle of June. The sun, which had been a constant companion throughout the day, was sinking slowly beneath the skyline, leaving Richard Gilmore to pull his overcoat tighter around himself as he stepped out of the store.

He glanced up and down the street, watching the other shoppers come and go, moving from store to store while they still had the light. He checked his watch – quarter after seven – a sigh slipped from his lips. Emily would be upset that he was missing Friday Night Dinner with the girls, but it was the price he had to pay if he wanted the perfect gift for their Anniversary next week.

Richard peered inside the plain carrier bag he held, smiling to himself at the sight of the carefully wrapped package that it contained. He rolled the package in the bag and slid it into a pocket on the inside of this overcoat. Buttoning his coat back up, he patted the package – just to make sure – and set off down the street towards where he parked his car.

A weight had lifted off him now that he had the package. It was one less thing on his mind. He strolled along, weaving in and out of the other shoppers, stepping aside to let a lady with a stroller pass him and stopping once to retrieve a stuffed animal for a little boy sat on his father's shoulders.

Half way back to his car his cell phone rang in his pocket. He fished it out and sighed when he noticed the caller ID. He answered, "Hello, Emily- Yes, I am well aware what day it is- No, I understand but I had some business to take care of that just could not wai- Of course, I shall hurry back right away."

He slipped the phone back into his coat and hurried off, there was a short cut he knew about just up ahead. It would shave a good couple of minutes off his walk back to the car, so he took the left turn off the street and started down the alley. It wasn't a particularly long or dark alley but it was an alley nonetheless so most people tended to stay away from it once it had started to get dark. But it was still light enough that Richard didn't think twice about using it.

He had barely gotten halfway when he heard running footsteps behind him. Before he could turn, someone ploughed into him, sending him staggering forward to land heavily on one knee.

"What on earth do you think you're doing?" Richard twisted to look behind him but all he could see was the barrel of a gun.

"You know what to do, Richie Rich, hand 'em all over now an' you get to go back home to Mrs. Rich, yeah?"

Richard couldn't take his eyes off the gun. He swallowed hard but found he couldn't answer.

"Hey, did you hear me, old man? Wallet, cell phone an' whatever else you got stashed away in that expensive lookin' coat of yours!"

"Now listen here, young man-"

The mugger prodded him in the chest with the gun.

Richard's mouth snapped shut and he scrambled in his pockets, handing over everything he had, including Emily's anniversary gift. The mugger glanced about them as he stuffed the stolen items into his own pockets. Once he had everything, he turned tail and sprinted back the way he had come.

He didn't make it back to the street though. One second he was there, the next he was gone. Richard blinked, climbing to his feet carefully, supporting himself against the alley wall.

With a frown he started towards where the mugger had vanished but before he got very far, something landed with a thump behind him. Spinning, Richard caught sight of a hooded figure sprawled on the ground.

The figure scrambled upright, looking wildly about. As he did, his hood slipped down to reveal his face. He looked to be about twenty, with short cropped hair, pale skin and a terrified look on his face.

"Did you see it? Where did it go?"

"Where did who go? What are you talking about?"

"Not who - what! It... no!"

A young woman appeared behind him suddenly and grabbed him by the hood before he could run away again. She looked at Richard and smiled, "Sorry about this, he managed to wriggle away from me before. But I shouldn't be long, then you can have your stuff back." Her soft brown hair hung down to her shoulders in loose waves and spirals, she had laughter lines around her mouth, her teeth perfectly straight and dazzlingly white – her wide smile seemed to brighten the alley all around them, but the deep circles under her eyes made her seem much older than she could possibly be.

The man howled at her to let him go, that he was sorry and he would give back the things he had stolen... the next thing he knew, Richard was on the ground again as numerous gunshots rang out. Looking up, he saw the mugger a few feet away shooting again and again at the woman as she advanced towards him.

The bullets didn't seem to faze her though as she reached down and yanked the gun away from him crushing it with one had before tossing it over her shoulder. It clattered toward Richard who could only gape at it.

The mugger dove at her then, wrapping his arms around her middle, trying to tackle her to the ground. She didn't so much as flinch as he puffed and panted, digging his heels in as he struggled to move her. The woman rolled her eyes and peeled him off her, pushing him away with a hand on his forehead.

"Seriously?" she watched, unimpressed, as he redoubled his efforts, swinging his fists wildly at her. "You really think that's going to work? I could crush you like a grape if I wanted to, but I'm not going to because it's messy and I just had this outfit dry cleaned."

She lifted the mugger up by his head, until his feet no longer touched the ground, and walked over to a nearby street light. With barely an effort at all, she bent the light around the man until he was wrapped in it and could no longer move. He didn't even bother struggling anymore. Then, dusting herself down, the woman made her way back over to Richard.

"Are you okay?" she helped him to his feet again and straightened his overcoat for him, fixing his collar with a smile. "There, good as new."

Richard's mouth could only open and close.

"I nearly forgot!" The woman went back to the mugger and reached inside his hoodie, fishing about for a moment until she found Richard's cell phone, wallet, watch and Emily's gift. "Here, I think these are yours."

Richard looked down at the items she held out to him as if they were going to bite him. "I- Well- I must say, that was quite something to behold," Gingerly he replaced his things back into his pockets, sliding his watch back onto his wrist and fastening it. "What I meant to say is," he straightened, finally managing to regain some of his composure, and met her gaze. "I will be forever grateful to you. I don't know what I would have done if you had not come along! So thank you, my dear, thank you."

The woman grinned at him, "You're welcome."

Richard nodded, returning her smile. She started to turn away but he called after her, "I'm Richard Gilmore, by the way. I-I don't believe I got your name, Miss..."

"Cordelia Chase."

He bowed his head to her, "The pleasure has most certainly been mine, Miss. Chase. If there is anything I can ever do for you, please, come and find me."

Cordelia un-bent the street light from around the mugger and threw him over her shoulder as she straightened the light back out. "I will. Goodbye, Mr. Gilmore."

And just like that, she was gone. Richard stood there a moment longer, as if she might come back. When she didn't, he turned, breathing in the cool evening air and resumed the walk back to his car, patting his overcoat pocket where the neatly wrapped package once again resided.

AN: Thank you very much for reading, I really hope you enjoyed it! And just a quick FYI, all these One-a-Day Oneshots are all just that, Oneshots. They are just something I'm doing to help me get back into writing and try and drag myself out of the dark place I've been in for the past few months. So thank you very much for all your reviews on my other stories but there won't be any updates, unfortunately.

Peace Out.