Burke had only minutes ago concluded the interview and moved on to the small talk when Gadget walked in the door. She looked around as though searching for a place to sit and her eyes locked on his for a fraction of a second as they passed him. He smiled at her timing. The 33/45 was a retro style diner, as Chip had described it, but done much better than he would've suspected of such a place.

Not long after their conversation started, Burke knew everything he needed to know about Rat Capone. He knew exactly the type of criminal he was and exactly how to manipulate him. To a large extent, by the interview's conclusion, he had most of what he wanted. He also knew that Capone's eyes strayed to the door every time it opened, and lingered there whenever the person entering was of the fairer sex.

He blatantly stared after Gadget as she crossed the room to an empty booth while keeping an eye on Capone with his peripheral vision. Sure enough, he noticed Burke's interest instantly.

"Ohhh, no," he said. "You don't wants none of that."

"Really? And why wouldn't I?"

"Trust me. I've tried. And failed."

"And what, might I ask, was your approach?"

"I told her if she'd be my moll, I wouldn't kill her friends." He chuckled. "I didn't mean it, though."

"And she turned you down?" Burke asked incredulously, knowing Capone wouldn't pick up on the sarcasm. "Unbelievable."

"Yeah, I know. I guess she just don't know a good thing when she sees it. After all she is one a 'dem…do gooders." He said the word with great distaste. Burke rubbed his chin, keeping his eyes glued to Gadget's enticing form.

"A do gooder, eh? I am quite fond of those. Nothing like pouring a little vinegar into some sweet young thing's milk bottle."

"And she's one a' dem…Rescue Rangers."

Burke feigned surprise and focused back on Capone. "Really? Had a nasty little run-in the other night with a couple of chipmunks laying claim to that moniker."

"Yeah…dat's dem. The one with the hat…he's the leader."

Burke's eyes wandered back to Gadget. "Hmmm…shag her until her legs won't cross, then have her take me home to meet the team and find out I'm blacker than Newgate's knocker. I think that's the worst thing I ever heard. How marvelous." He tossed the remainder of his drink back and stood.

"It'll never happen," Capone said.

"Not if she sees me associating with you. I'll be in touch, old chap."

He sauntered off, taking a circuitous route so he would appear to be coming from a different direction. Gadget had selected a booth that put her back to Capone and was doing a good job of looking around in a normal manner without casting her eyes in his direction. As Burke expected, Capone was watching with unbridled attention. He stopped next to Gadget's booth and looked down at her.

"Would you mind if I sat down?"

"I might."

"Why might you?"

"Well, I don't know why you want to sit down."

"My feet are tired."

"Why?"

"Why do anyone's feet get tired?"

"Because they've been on them too long?"

"Exactly."

"How long have you been on yours?"

"A very long time. Longer than you can imagine."

"I don't know, I can imagine quite a bit."

"Then imagine more, and you'll be close."

She regarded him for a moment. This exchange hadn't been part of her plan, but it fit, and it was interesting. She gestured and he sat.

"Thank you."

"So why have you been on your feet for so long?"

"I've been walking. Seeking."

"Seeking what?"

He looked straight into her eyes. "Perfection."

"That's pretty vague. No wonder you've been walking so long. You should be more specific."

"I wasn't being vague, I was just summarizing."

"Well, you could be a little more specific."

"I have been looking for wisdom, strength, beauty. Wisdom to rival Solomon, strength to rival Hercules, beauty to rival Helen of Troy. The knowledge of Archimedes, the power of the sea. The beauty of a sunset splayed red across the horizon, so much beauty that you can't take it all in and have to look away for fear your heart will burst."

"I can see why you've been searching so long. Why stop now?"

"Because I've finally found you."

Her heart skipped a beat and her eyes widened in surprise, not expecting that answer. He took her hand in both of his and brought it to his lips, kissing it gently.

"You encompass all the wisdom and strength and beauty in creation."

She blushed fiercely and looked down, as he expected her to. He quickly looked over at Capone and gave him a sadistic smile and a knowing wink. Capone grimaced angrily, stood, threw his napkin on the table with as much mustard as he could muster, and stomped out of the diner. Burke chuckled.

"What?"

"Capone is apparently irritated that my method of approaching with honey is more effective that his method of approaching with threats."

"It was very nice of you to say those things."

He still had her hand in his.

"I meant them."

She blushed again and smiled at him.


Their mission completed, Monty and his friends approached the door to RHQ when Foxglove stopped them.

"What if Gadget beat us home?" she asked.

"Nah," Monty said. "We got 'ere pretty quick. But if she is, we'll just tell her-"

"Tell her what?" Came an angry voice from behind them. They whirled and Gadget came out of the shadows towards them.

"Uh…Gadget, luv…we were just…uh…"

"Just following me? Intruding on my personal business? Invading my privacy?" She was absolutely livid.

"Why no…uh…we were just-."

"Don't you dare lie to me, Monterey Jack! I spotted you not five minutes after I left!"

"We didn't mean anything by it, luv! Chip just wanted us to-."

"Chip!? This was Chip's doing? Where is he?"

"He's probably inside, but Gadg-."

She whirled around and flung the door open, stomped inside, and slammed it behind her. Her muffled angry voice rose immediately from inside. After a moment of nervous silence between them Dale spoke softly.

"Well…Chip said he'd deal with her."

"Something tells me he might regret that," Foxglove said sadly.


Chip was sitting at the table by the door when Gadget stormed in. His hands were folded in front of him, his eyes fixed on the flower that now lay in the middle of the table minus its pot. He looked up long enough to see the rage on her face and briefly meet her eyes. The anger he saw there directed at him squeezed his heart until it felt ready to burst and he looked back at the flower.

"How dare you, Chip Maplewood!" she roared. "Have you no respect for the privacy of others? How could you send them out there to follow me?"

"Gadget," he began softly, not looking up, "I only wanted-."

"Well maybe this isn't about what you want!" She flung out her arms to indicate the treehouse. "Maybe all this isn't about just what you want! So what if you're our leader? That doesn't give you the right to control our lives! It certainly doesn't give you the right to meddle in my personal affairs!

"I'm sorry about how things went between us the other day, but I honestly thought it had been settled as well as it could've been. And I never would've thought you would let your jealousy drive you to do something so dirty and underhanded! And you didn't even have the courage to do it yourself! You had to send the others! Get them involved! How could you do that to them? How could you do that to me?"

She stood over him, glowering at him, daring him to meet her eyes.

"Well?"

"I just wanted you to be safe," he said softly.

This response caught her off guard, and she watched a single tear drop from his face onto the table.

"Rat Capone is dangerous. And he was meeting a stranger whom he was deciding whether or not to trust." His eyes remained fixed on the tabletop and his voice was barely above a whisper. It was a sharp contrast to the racket Gadget had been making. She had to strain to hear him. "He could have had dozens of people near at hand to call on. If something went wrong…You'd have been there all alone. And we wouldn't have known about it for hours. Which…probably would have been too late." He swallowed hard.

"I sent the others to look after you and protect you. I stayed behind because I didn't want you to think…what you think. Because I knew if you did, then anything there was between us might cease to exist. But I had to take the chance. Even if it meant the end of everything.

"Do I want you to be with Burke? No. I wouldn't want you to be with him even if I weren't interested. Because he's going to leave. And he's either going to break your heart or take you with him. And I don't want either one of those things to happen.

"This…didn't have anything to do with Burke. I just want you to be safe. And home. And happy. I guess…I guess that's too much for me to want."

He stood and turned away from her, never looking up, and walked to the hallway that led off the main room. He stopped with one hand on the doorframe, as though leaning against it for support. Gadget held her hand out to him, but couldn't find her voice. Couldn't make her legs move.

"I…I'm sorry, Gadget," he said without looking back. "For everything."

He disappeared down the hall.

"Chip…Chip, wait I…" She hung her head. "What have I done?" she whispered. She stood there a moment, horrified and guilt ridden. But there was only one thing to do. She had to go and apologize…if that were even possible. She took a deep breath and followed Chip out of the living room. Knocking softly on his door, she received no response. She risked opening it anyway. He was standing on the far side of the room staring out the window.

"Chip…"

He didn't acknowledge her presence.

"I didn't realize…I mean…I should've realized…"

She sighed, walked up, and stood slightly behind him, put her hand on his shoulder.

"I'm so sorry. You know how I get when I'm angry. That's no excuse, I know. This situation with Burke…it's just got me all out of sorts. I do care for you. You're very sp-."

Chip shrugged her hand off and stepped away, keeping his back to her. "No." His voice was still soft. "You can't do that. You can't have it both ways. You can't love me and choose him. It doesn't work that way. In the end, that would destroy even a professional relationship between us."

"But that's not…I don't want that."

He jerked his head around to meet her eyes, anger and pain clearly in his even in the dim light, his voice finally raised.

"You think I do?"

He stared her down for a moment then looked back out the window.

"Chip, I…"

His voice was soft again.

"You do what you have to do."

It was clearly a dismissal. She opened her mouth to say something more, but didn't know what. With a soft sigh, she turned and left.


Monty was almost always the first out of bed. Today though, Chip was already up and gone by the time he walked into the kitchen to start a pot of coffee brewing. A note lay on the table.

Gang,

Seeking a solution to our manpower problem in the Brian Cooper case. Don't know when I'll be back.

Chip

He sighed. One of the things that worried him the most about their leader was that whenever he got his usually well controlled emotions stirred up, he had a tendency to strike out on his own. Work was his distraction, and he would dive into it with a single-minded determination that sometimes didn't include enough forethought. And as the day progressed, Gadget also resorted to her fall back position: locking herself in her workshop. The tension in the treehouse was almost thick enough to cut, and Chip and Gadget weren't even around. Who knew how things would be when they were?

As he piddled in the kitchen after lunch, toying with a new version of an old recipe, a heavy knocking came from the front door. He wiped his hands on a dishtowel and went to answer it. Before he could get to the door, the knock came again. It seemed almost frantic.

"All right, all right. 'Ang on, mate, I'm comin'."

He opened the door to find a tall, lanky, familiar mouse.

"Sparky!"

"Monterey Jack. Good to see you." He extended his hand and Monty shook it with gusto.

"Come on in, mate."

"Thank you."

He walked inside, looking quite nervous, even for him. "Uh…where is everybody?"

"Well, we're kinda spread out t'day. What can I help you with?"

He gestured to the couch and they sat. Sparky started talking but it wasn't long before Monty stopped him.

"Ya got a wee bit 'a time, mate?"

"Of course."

"Then best hold off a bit. Everyone's gonna want t'hear this."