OvO

"Bill?"

"Yea, Alice?"

"If I happen to die in the next week or so can you please burn my house down? Don't want my relatives taking my stuff." Alice asked, sitting across from the rather rugged man. He nodded solemnly before munching on his sandwich. It was only after a few seconds did he seem to realize that there was something strange about that request.

"Uuhh, waitaminute. Why would ya die in the next week or so? Wha's the matter?" He asked, setting his lunch down. Alice shrugged.

"Nevermind." She said dismissively.

"You can't just say that and pretend like ya didn't. Come on Al." He insisted.

"Yes I can. Watch me." She said, turning away.

"Al."

"Alice."

"Boss."

"Alice- oh nevermind. Just don't die, alright? You worry me sometimes." Bill said, dropping the subject.

Alice hummed.

Next Tuesday was coming far too slowly and far too quickly all at once. Officer X paced the floor of his crude apartment. Things were in even more disarray than usual (he had let himself go after he lost his job), the penguin-pins on the floor and nearly forgotten under his bed.

He was both excited and terrified for his date in exactly forty-three hours, fifty-seven minutes, and sixty two seconds. Sixty one. Sixty. Fifty-nine...

"Raahhhgg!" He screamed, flipping his side table over. He was dirt poor. He could not pay the ten thousand he now owed Alice, not without going into debt and getting nasty letters from the bank. He could hardly afford to go to that restaurant she had picked out- one of the biggest, most well known, expensive joints in the city. He would have to pull a lot of strings to even get a reservation there.

She was going to be a leech, some backwards part of his mind whispered, She'll drain you dry and then leave you to rot. Just like everybody else-

But the whispering abruptly stopped as an image of her happy, genuinely happy, face sitting across from him appeared. She would smile and thank him, then they'd go dance in the huge expensive ballroom that place had, and she wouldn't look so haggard because she'd be having fun for the first time in probably years-

And it would be thanks to him.

He could do that for her, and that thought alone made the ache in his chest swell and writhe in blissful agony.

Screw the bank. Screw his debt.

If the last thing he did was make her smile, then so be it.

Chuck Charles sat alone in his trailer straightening out his hair. He collected a wad of gel on his fingers before slicking his grey locks up and over, completing his toupet. He smiled to the devilishly handsome man in the reflection, and was immediately charmed by the reflection's smile back. He was so absorbed in his news-anchor award winning face he didn't notice the fist until it was too late.

With the news anchor unconscious, Officer X set to work raiding the man's suitcases. He found a suit he hoped would fit, and just for good measure tied the old guy up before he left. He needed no followers.

Charles woke up an hour later.

"This is Chuck Charles, signing in to declare that my head hurts, oh jeeze..."

The receptionist snapped her gum loudly in the empty building. Having these 24 hour banks noadays were total bull. Why couldn't people learn to go get cash in their checks at a reasonable hour? instead of three AM?!

She sighed, resting her head down on her palm, her elbow against the counter. She was so tired, and it wasn't like there were going to be any patrons any time soon... The woman soon passed out on her swivel chair, unintentionally letting the retired officer waltz in after he tore all the cameras down.

He transferred ten thousand dollars into his bank account, and an extra forty thousand just for good measure before leaving.

He was almost certain no one would notice.

He picked up the phone and let it ring. Someone picked up ar the fourth ring, answering with a "This is Lathen speaking."

"Lathen, it's me, Xanders."

"Wha-? Oh it's you. What do you want?" The male voice said, sounding a lot less friendly now that he knew who was talking to him.

"I'm calling in the favor."

There was a silence over the phone.

Then Lathen sighed.

"What do you need?"

Alice rummaged in the bottom of her drawer for the umpteenth time that night. She pulled out several pairs of work shorts, a few pairs of old comfortable jeans, and a single skirt her mother bought her years ago for her birthday.

She examined the skirt, a short, pink, frilly thing that didn't look like it would have fit her when she was four. She tossed it across her room. Something to wear, something to wear...

She slammed the drawer shut and screamed into the pile of clothes on the dresser.

Going to the nicest place in town was one thing, getting paid to go there was another, going without a decent thing to wear was a whole other ball park. It was only after she ripped apart her closet, her desser, and the underside of her bed did she realize that she did not own a single piece of what other woman called, 'fasionable clothing'. She was a practical woman. She needed no heels, no gaudy nails or bracelets, though she did like her earrings and her makeup. And even those were more to keep up appearances at the zoo.

Her eyes trailed down towards to the still un-cashed check sitting on her bed, the pure white paper that was smudged with nearly unnoticeable brown finger prints.

She guessed it was time to go shopping.

The horribly peppy man that greeted her, whose smile was sickly sweet yet eyes more judgmental than a jury, practically squealed when she showed him a wad of money and said "need a dress."

He dragged her by the wrist deeper into the overly expensive store and shoved fabrics into her hands.

She held a soft pale green dress next to a dark blue one and he seemed to be judging which one looked better with her complexion.

"So darling~ what's the occasion? Hmm? Business? Friend's wedding? Your wedding?" He said the last part with an almost deranged look in his eye. She snorted.

"Got a... Date, actually." God, that felt weird to say.

"Oohh~!" He waggled his eyebrows. "Who's the lucky someone? Is he nice? Is he a she?"

This was so weird.

"He's... Well I've known him a while..." She said, which was true. She had known him for at least six months, when he started sneaking into the zoo at night. Why did he do that? A small part of her started to question that maybe his attempts to steal the animals was actually an attempt to get her attention. Her mind started to slip down a slope at that thought, and the perky clerk's voice faded until he said-

"Okay! Yes! Yes, it's either this one-" He held up a short purple dress, "Or this one!" He said, tossing her a slightly longer green dress with a slit down the side. She took both of them, looking at their slimming waists and how much leg they would show off. They were nice dresses, admittedly, but she just... Couldn't imagine herself wearing them. Oh well- it was just for on night, after all.

"Alright darling, just go try them on tell me which one you like best, we'll have you fitted for one in no time!" He said, ushering her into a changing room. He shut the door swiftly and then she was alone.

Long story short, she hated both of them. Purple was just not her color under any circumstances, and the green one showed off her tan line on her calf too much. She looked like someone had stuffed a Raggedy Anne doll into a Barbie doll's dress in both of them. She was so out of her element, she almost wished she was back at the zoo cleaning the bathrooms. Almost.

She took them both off, glad to be out of the restrictive death traps, redressed and left the room. The weirdly perky clerk was thankfully nowhere to be seen, so she took the opportunity to look over the outfits herself. She skimmed over them, not notcing nor caring about the fine details sewn into each one.

She rolled her eyes at the vibrant colors and sat down on a convenient bench. Except it wasn't a bench, but rather a stack of unnecessarily fancy boxes that she sat through. She quickly stood up, fully prepared to sprint out if this fancy clothing Hell, when she saw it.

Reaching down into the box and pulling out the soft fabric, she then walked back to the dressing room.

The suit was a tight fit, but it fit him. Kinda. If he didn't breath and tried not to sweat too much he'd look halfway normal, but that was fine. He held a gift in his left pocket, a tightly wrapped brooch and the other half of her payment inside. He drove up to the rather huge building that was nestled between to skyscrapers. Though the buildings towered over him, the realization that this was actually happening loomed over him impossibly.

Officer X parked his admittedly nice car, a leftover from jobs prior, and got out with a shaking breath. He saw a hauntingly familiar silhouette standing in front if the glass doors, and he pushed down any nervousness he had. It would do no good to be terrified, he's only got one shot at this.

"Alright boys! The eagle has landed! Move Move MOVE!" Skipper barked, and immediately the four birds slid over to a large vent on the side of the building. They pried it open and slipped inside unseen.