Chapter 10: The O.W.C.A. Agent Who Loved Me

Just my luck for it to start thunder-storming outside, Penelope thought. She shuddered violently where she lay, trying with all her might to shut out the noise. Another strike of lightning flashed and thunder reverberated so loudly, Penelope felt it in her chest. She screamed. I don't care what Perry thinks, the thunder is too much of a reminder of that night. She put her hands on her head and her tail beneath her body. If only I could forget.

"Penelope?" came a voice.

Just my bloody luck, thought Penelope. "Go away," she said.

"Penelope, I left you once, I can't leave you again," he said.

Penelope looked up, her navy blue eyes meeting his cocoa brown ones. The fear of thunder inside her was replaced by nervous timidity. Something about his eyes caused her to melt inside, leaving her with nothing intelligent to say. "Uh..." was all she could manage.

"Why don't I sleep down here with you tonight, for comfort? Unless you'd rather be alone..." said Perry.

"Oh, I don't mind, I'd actually like the company. Just don't touch me in my sleep; once, someone tried to shake me awake and I almost took their head off. I sleep very deeply so I may not hear your voice the first few times, but I would advise you to wake me by noise, for your safety."

Perry laughed, "Okay," he said.

"I mean it, don't touch me in my sleep."

"Gotcha," he said, settling down beside her.

Comforted by his presence, her fear melted away. She settled down as well and was soon asleep. It wasn't long before her mind drifted into her subconscious and she dreamed.

Penelope was on a stage, sitting on a three-legged stool and strumming an acoustic guitar. She placed her beak inches from the mike in front of her and began singing in a mournful tone. "I think you can do much better than me, after all the lies that I made you believe. Guilt kicks in and I start to see... the edge of the bed where your fedora used to be. Whoa, whoa, I told myself I won't miss you, but I remember... what it feels like beside you. I really miss your hair in my face, and the way your innocence tastes, and I think you should know that you deserve much better than me." She was giving her all to someone unknown, someone who she felt had left her. There were many people in the crowd before her, all of them dressed well in suits and dresses, but they had drinks in their hands and were sneering at her. Penelope would have been exposed had the guitar not been covering her, she wore a white flower with pink on its inside. She sniffed back tears and continued her song. "While looking through an old box of ours, I found those paintings I made that you were looking for. If there's one memory I don't want to lose, that time in the log, you and me talking real low. Whoa, whoa, I told myself I won't miss you, but I remember what it feels like beside you. I really miss your hair in my face, and the way your innocence tastes, and I think you should know that, you deserve much better than me." Her eyes weren't holding back tears anymore, they were flowing freely. She looked into the crowd again, the humans she didn't know were replaced by animals she did know. She still wasn't seeing who she wanted to see most though. She choked back enough tears to continue the song. "The bed I'm lying in is getting colder, wish I never would have said it's over and I can't pretend... I won't think about you when I'm older, 'cause we never really had a closure, this can't be the end, yeah, yeah, yeah. I really miss your hair in my face, and the way your innocence tastes, and I think you should know that you deserve much better than me."

She looked up again and saw humans again, but a platypus in a black three-piece suit, brown fedora, and quaint little black shoes pushed his way through the crowd. His eyes were cocoa brown and begging Penelope's forgiveness. The crowd faded until it was just the two of them. He sang back-up, "And I think you should know that."

"You deserve much better than me."

"And I think you should know that," he sang getting closer.

"You deserve much better than me."

"And I think you should know that," he sang taking her beak in his hand, nothing left but those two and the stool she was sitting on. The black nothingness that surrounded them was weightless, and filled them with bliss. Penelope was no longer crying.

"You deserve much better than me," she sang her last line.

"And I think you should know that," he sang his last line.

Penelope put her hand to his face and said, "You deserve so much better than me, Perry."

Penelope woke up from her dream to a rainy night. The thunder outside had stopped, but the thunder inside her was still roaring. Perry lay beside her, breathing slowly, presumably asleep. "Oh, Perry, if only I could get the nerve to tell you how I feel." She thought over her options. After a moment, she came up with the idea to keep it to herself. This idea was not to be though.

Penelope had settled back down to sleep, this time sleeping on her back instead of in pet mode on her stomach, her feet were flying above her. When in this position of sleep, she was more likely to lose control of her REM sleep. This happened to be a night when she couldn't stay still in her sleep. It wasn't long before she got up on two legs and began sleep-dancing.

When she got up, Perry had woken up and noticed she was dancing in the middle of the living room. He was going to wake her up, but remembered her strict warning on only waking her up through noise. He was about to call to her when she started talking. "I'm glad you could be here with me tonight, Perry. I have something to tell you, something I've been wanting to tell you for five and a half years now."

What could she have to tell me? Perry thought. He kept silent longer to learn what the secret was.

Penelope smiled and seemed to lean closer to her invisible partner. She swayed a little bit slower and whispered so low Perry almost couldn't hear her say: "I love you, Perry, and I want you to kiss me."

Perry fell on his face, then quickly sat up like a pet would. Love? Kiss? He was shocked, he didn't know what to do. He had never had someone admit that they loved him like that. Another question entered his mind: Do I love her?

Penelope continued swaying a bit longer, but was stopped and she fell to the floor. She started shaking and breathing quickly. She then lurched back as if she had been struck in the face. She curled up into a ball and started shaking harder.

Perry watched this and still remembered what she had said about almost taking someone's head off. He knew he had to wake her up soon though, he couldn't watch this any longer. "Penelope! Penelope! Wake up, Penelope!"

Penelope continued shaking until soon she was thrashing as if she was being struck. She said, "Stop! Please stop!" Perry came over to where she lay, took her by the shoulders, and began shaking her awake.

"Penelope, wake up! Penelope!"

It wasn't long after he began shaking her that her eyes shot open, she grabbed Perry's arms, pinned him to the floor, and had her right fist ready to strike. Perry braced himself, but the hit never came. He opened his eyes and looked into Penelope's eyes. She looked filled with confusion and conflicting emotions. In the moonlight, her eyes looked violet. Perry was amazed at how beautiful she looked. "I told you not to wake me up like that."

"You were thrashing around and crying 'Stop! Please stop!' I couldn't let you stay in your nightmare. I tried calling to you, but you didn't hear me. What would you have wanted me to do?" he asked.

"I would have wanted you to leave me to my nightmare. I've been dealing with them for five and a half years. I can take care of myself." She got off of Perry and would have gone to bed had she not realized something. She took Perry by the fur and slammed his back against a wall. "I'm going to ask you a very simple question: Was 'Stop! Please stop!' all I said?"

I can't lie, but what would she do if I told her the truth? thought Perry. Luckily, Penelope seemed satisfied with silence. She wasn't any happier than before, but she wasn't as violent.

"You know what, Perry, I realize what I said, and I don't care anymore. What I said was true and I don't want to talk about it tonight. Now, in case you haven't noticed, the rain has stopped, so please let me sleep alone for the remainder of the evening. I hope you're happy. Yes, I like grubs in my rice, it adds protein."

Perry's eyes widened in shock. I better just go with it until I figure out my feelings, he thought. "Oh yeah, I don't mind, that actually sounds good."

"Really? Anyone else I told about it said I was nuts. Thanks, Perry, I don't mind if you sleep with me for the rest of the night."

"Okay," was all Perry could say.

They both settled down to sleep and the rest of the night was peaceful.

The next morning, Penelope slowly blinked open her eyes, she felt no rush, she felt no heat... no heat? Where's Perry? She lay back down, determined not to get up again until she saw him.

Perry, meanwhile, was outside behind the great oak in the backyard. He was looking at his half of the geode and stroked it with his thumb, lost in thought. What do I do? Sooner or later it's going to come out what she really said. Then, he was struck with an epiphany. Just as he was about to enact it, he noticed his boys surrounding Penelope. He came closer and noticed smiles on their faces.

"Aw, that's so cute," said Phineas. Penelope was on her back swatting her tail with her fore-paws. Her eyes were violet again in interest. Perry chattered and she looked at him, still on her back. "Hey, there you are, Perry," said Phineas. He patted Perry on the head and with the fun over, the boys left the room.

"What were you doing?" asked Perry.

"I was just being cute, like almost every platypus," said Penelope while flipping over. "What's on your mind?"

"Oh, I um... after I get back from work I was wondering if you'd like to go for a walk in the park with me."

"A walk... are you asking me out on a date?" she asked slyly.

"No! I mean, it doesn't have to be if you don't want it to be. I just want to catch up."

"All right," she said, smiling widely.

Comforted Perry would be with her, she followed him to the kitchen for breakfast. Soon after, the boys went outside and Perry left to foil Doofenshmirtz's scheme. While he was gone, Penelope watched the boys building an epic pinball table. It was so big that the pinball could be kicked with their feet. Penelope smiled, envying youth since she knew that she wouldn't be that young for much longer. After all, for every human year, a platypus ages five years. I'll be turning 30 in two days, Penelope thought, sighing. She never thought she would be without someone this long. One advantage to my present lifestyle is that I can think all day on the O.W.C.A. agent who loved me.

Wow, already 10 chapters! Woo! This chapter's title was taken from The Spy who Loved Me. Things are starting to accelerate a little bit. What will happen now? Well, I won't answer that until the next chapter, so please keep reading and reviewing, thanks guys. Also, I would like to say, I do not own the song "Better than me." That song belongs to the band Hinder as well as their record company.

Slight sidebar: I know that REM sleep doesn't work precisely like that, I was just taking "creative liberty" with it, or however you guys want to put it. I also took creative liberty with how much an animal ages. I know it's not really like this, but hey, this is a story, so anything can happen.