A/N: I'm baaaaack! I know you all missed me terribly, and that this chapter was already posted, but it's freshly edited and is much better now. I rather like it; it's fairly clever. It is short, and I'm sorry for that, but I didn't want to drag it out too long.

Chapter 12: The Plan

It really was a beautiful plan; you might even say it was fool-proof. But Zerubbabel did not need a fool-proof plan. She needed a Gaston-proof plan. Which made her even more nervous.

The streets of Germany were lovely. Indoctrinated as they were in the virtues of an implicitly tranquil life, the residents of this region had taken it upon themselves to bring about the transformation of an entire society's way of life by altering their own. The result was stunning. Children darted about the cobblestone streets, careless and free of responsibility. Women inspected fruit from the stands that framed the street; the resonating baritones of men emanated from the humble town pub. The area was the very picture of a quiet life.

Of course, all of this was only in Zerubbabel's imagination. She herself could not stop and smell the roses, for she was too busy running for her life.

"I'll go this way, you head down the other way," she instructed as they ran. Gaston nodded, and sprinted for the crosswalk. Good, Zerubbabel thought, at least he's learned some sense over the years. This was apparently a premature notion, as the would-be bodybuilder crossed the busy intersection instead of following her directions.

"If you get hit by a car and break your neck, I am not filling out your death certificate!" Perfectly certain her message had gotten through, Zerubbabel turned and continued down her side of the street. She stopped for a quick glance at the crowded marketplace, trying to spot the SAD official. She discovered the woman attempting to lose herself in a humongous mass of people. Zerubbabel took off even more quickly than before. Fighting her way through the crowd, she tried to reach the official, but it was no use. The woman had ducked into an alleyway.

Zerubbabel knew in that instant that there was no point continuing. Even if she did manage to extricate herself from the crowd sometime this century, the woman would be too far gone to find. She allowed herself to be carried away by the current the people were producing. After a few moments of being driven in this fashion, Zerubbabel slipped into an alleyway a considerable distance from her starting point.

She stepped out only after the crowd had passed by. Deciding to look for Gaston, she walked to the other side of the street. The passage of the conglomeration of people had brought forth the former peaceful sleepiness of the city. Therefore, Zerubbabel was able to walk quite comfortably up and down the streets looking for him. Disney should really provide their villains with cell phones.

Eventually, Zerubbabel found Gaston sleeping under a tree. She kicked him awake, and pointed at the street: "Funny how much the street moves when you're running."

"Ah, yes, it is rather difficult to stay on track." He yawned. "But my amazing hunting skills helped-." Zerubbabel stopped him midsentence.

"Don't even try to finish that. I'm already feeling nauseous, and I don't need you and your fantasies making it worse."

"Very well. But you will be glad to hear, I think, that I managed to recapture your hostage."

"What?!" Zerubbabel glanced around. "Where is she?"

"Well, that's the tricky part, I'm afraid…"
"What is it?"

"Well…"

"She got away again, didn't she." It was not a question.

"Well, yes, but I did manage to tell her who you were, so she should come looking for us at any moment."

"You what?!" This was one of the few moments in life when Zerubbabel wished she could turn herself into a pumpkin, or maybe six white mice.

"I thought I did the right thing. Now all we have to do is await her return. She's bound to, and just to get a closer look at my fantastic abdominals." Gaston wiggled his eyebrows, as though he were trying to be charming.

"You idiot! All you did was give her evidence against me! Now all we have to do is wait for her to come and set the cops on me! 'Wait for her to come and get a closer look at my abdominals.' The only thing she's going to be looking at is an arrest warrant! You idiot!"

Zerubbabel stood up from the crouch she had assumed during her rant. "We have to leave now, before she can find us. Come on." It was a good thing Zerubbabel had taken to carrying her belongings around with her. She had been so many places lately, it seemed foolish to unpack her bag.

"Now? But I had a date tonight…"

"Well, I guess you're going to have to cancel, aren't you? If you don't have the guts to do it, though, I'm sure our escapee will be able to find a specially padded cell just for you."

"Fine, fine. Where's the airport?"

"About an hour's bus ride away."

"Wait. Am I to understand that you are going to make this—" he gestured to his muscular upper body "—go on some commoner's bus?"

"If you were referring to your shirt, yes, and you with it."

"Great. What if I refuse?"

"Have fun in jail."

"Fine, fine," Gaston repeated. "But give me a window seat, will you? I'm claustrophobic."

"I don't think there'll be much of a selection." Zerubbabel began to head towards the bus stop, not caring if Gaston actually came or not.

"Ugh. That sounds like decision-making."

"Don't worry, I'll make sure it won't hurt you." They reached the bus stop five minutes later.

They were five minutes closer to finding Indie.

A/N: Aaaaand that is it! I will post the next chapter either today or tomorrow; it depends. I'll be working on editing the past chapters and re-posting them. I can't guarantee the next time I will post, as my life is unbelievably busy right now. I can promise that I will write as many chapters as I can (I'm on break right now) so all I have to do is post them every week. Probably nothing new next week, though. Please read and review! Trust me, I actually want to hear it if my story stinks. And how I can improve it. And what I should do next. And when I should stop this A/N.