THREE MONTHS LATER

"Snuggles, come on" Dawn yelled as she tried to fit her feet into the snazzy red heels. "The mugs are getting restless; I need them warmed up before I go out there and kill it"

"I'll wait until there's less commotion" Snuggles replied

"That's not how it works Snuggles" Dawn responded, urging the stage hand to attend to the zip on the back of her dress so she could secure in it. "If they pipe down, they get bored, when they get bored, they leave, when they leave, I don't have an audience, if I don't have an audience, I don't get paid, and we need this last flow to cover the rest of the trip back up North where the lights are"

"I need to be in a good place to deliver good material, what I'm half-way through right now really threw me for one, I'm not in the right train of thought"

"Don't tell me its stage fright again, look I'm with someone who put all that to one side in our duet, if he can do it, you can do it too. Come on, do it for me, it's the last gig. Whatever you've been reading back there can't have messed you up that much"

"Fine, you got me" Snuggles replied, "It's a romance comic. The couple I like the most in it, they...they might just spit, you know? I can't deal with that if they do, he wants to sacrifice his own happiness to be this wicked queen's prince, run away with her, all so she spares his real love and seizes an attack on their village at the same time"

"So what's so emotional about that? It's simultaneously trading up and making his love for the first interest seem so important he's willing to trade it to keep a whole community from falling apart, he's doing her proud" Dawn replied, grabbing her hairbrush and gracefully combing her long black locks.

"Besides, you can always peek to the end" she suggested.

"You really think I should do that?" Snuggles said

"Who taught you to read comics strictly in the store and not purchase them? Who taught you to read comics online?" Dawn asked.

There was silence from the other end of the door. Indicating she was getting through to him.

"I'll wait" she said, smearing her lips with lipstick.

Minutes passed, and just as the commotion steadily diminished, Snuggles sprang right up on stage, ready to deliver his stand-up routine to keep the place lively and energised.

Dawn could hear the uproar of laughter from the crowd, a perfect time to spring herself on them. She headed out of the door and headed towards the stage.

Snuggles welcomed her on, the pair embraced and Dawn sought out one other person in the crowd before her. A reliable hand, her rock.

There he was, in a brown bomber jacket, pipe in hand, accompanied by Penfold, the unmistakable mouse of mystery gave her an encouraging salute.

For Dawn, the performance that came bellowing out of her proved a seismic hit with the crowd, much to Dawn's amazement.

The British government had done their best to bring her and her assets to heel, forcing her to travel from place to place, she had not been in a patriotic mood and would not be for some time, so for her last day she picked a song that was very decidedly non-British, complete with a backing chorus that repeatedly belt out ''God Bless America' towards the end of the number.

Dawn had hoped it would incite a riot from the britbox boomers huddled around their tables, and also hoped in equal measure that the venue owners would appreciate the cut of her moxie.

Upon completion of the powerful performance, a rendition of 'Tell Me' by Terry Kath, ultimately force choking the backing singers and rendering them unconscious when it became clear they could sing just a tad better, she took a quick bow and prepared to head out back, she was finally off the working clock, but time was still of the essence, as they all now had to make it to the airport.

She collected her last paycheque from her boss, who also seemed impressed with the manner in which she dealt with the backing singers, many of whom were high on their talents and thought too much of themselves.

Said goodbye to the few friends she had briefly made performing at this tidy little venue down the south end of a quiet pier. Snuggles was waiting for her out back holding a pink t-shirt, sneakers, and tight blue jeans, both specifically sewn by his own magical paws so they were specifically tailored to suit his owner whatever age or size she chose to be.

Dawn slipped out of her dress and heels and, quickly as she could, put the fresh pair of clothes on before any sharp eyed onlooker could react to the sight of her in the buff. DM and Penfold were both waiting for her outside next to a sleek 'cocaine white Ferrari Testarossawhite.

"Ready to roll?" DM said, seated on the edge of the car, observing the ships coming in at the harbour at the edge of the pier.

"Wish we could stay longer"

"Hand over the diamond and we might just be able to arrange something" DM said, opening his hand and motioning for some kind of deposit.

Dawn laughed, and instead gave him a high five.

"Nice try my Dangerous friend" she said, DM closed his hand around hers, and brought her closer to him.

"How did things go with the comic strip?" Dawn asked Snuggles as DM hoisted her up and carried her over to the passenger seat of the Ferrari.

"Things worked out fine after all, just as you said. My favourite couple may be stronger for it too"

"See? Nothing to worry about"

"I just get so paranoid about it...like there's some grand conspiracy against them" Snuggles confessed.

"But that's the appeal isn't it?" Danger Mouse argued, "Those two against the world, both the threats in their own little reality, and the outside threats from all of those that weave it all together"

"And do you think you'd ever change if one day your worst fears came to pass? Or would you rise to the challenge like you always do?" Dawn asked of her dangerous friend.

"I'm always pushing myself to achieve what I can without limits...if I was able to cope with my last trauma in the most lucid of ways...think about what can happen in reality"

Dawn smiled; she clutched his hand tightly and gave him a kiss on his brightest cheek.

DM had been having some lucid dreams again, about the sprint record, how something would always stop him dead in his tracks.

This time, it had a much different meaning.

It was her.

She gave him pause.

She would be the death of him, after a life long lived.

She was all he could think of.

And he was all she could ever hope to detect.

"We are such things as dreams are made of" she told him.

There was another ever so brief silence, then came the toughest question Penfold would ever ask of his friend.

"Chief, what happens when this is over?" said Penfold.

"Nothing's ever really over, there's always reruns"

"It's just, there's so many stories of us out there, so much of our identity belongs to other now, even when we come back...it'll all be different, we'll just feel in the way, somewhere Squawk's butt is the stuff of gossip, I'm always getting injured or wind up depressed, you've got gosh knows how many girlfriends depending on the superfan or the historian...I'm surprised you're not in a harem"

"It's good to have gossip Penfold, gossip is what keeps our legend growing, the underworld will think twice before they ever come gunning for us with all they hear"

Penfold peered over to the side of the Ferrari window and waved at Dawn, she reverted to a child and blew him a repulsed raspberry.

Penfold frowned, and turned back to DM.

It took only a few seconds for the frown to leave his expression as the two reflected on the wild, crazy ride they'd been on lately, choosing to both laugh about it.

"She's just never going to hand over that diamond is she?" Penfold admitted to himself.

Danger Mouse remained resolutely committed to his 'wait and see' approach.

"I'll make sure she does, but I'm not going to force her to, not this time. I think I've learned something about teamwork and compromise that day that I couldn't learn in all my years with the Agency"

"Think about this Chief" cautioned Penfold.

"That's the one thing nobody can stop. Thinking"

Both soaked in the rays of the sun as the warm summer breezes picked up, jets of hot air combed over Danger Mouse's fur.

"I'm going to miss you" DM said.

"Go, get yourself, the fugitives, and your stolen car out of here before I call it in" Penfold said, half-joking, trying his utmost not to tear up.

DM wrapped his arm around Penfold's shoulder, bringing him closer to him, he gently rubbed the top of his head with a free hand.

"Dream a little bigger"

Penfold clutched him tightly.

In the car, Dawn and Snuggles shed a small tear as they watched the two lifelong partners embrace.

Eventually, as all things do, the embrace came to an end, and Danger Mouse, at one time the world's greatest secret agent, dashed over to the driver's seat of the Ferrari, made sure Dawn was secure, strapped on his own safety belt, turned on the ignition, and sped across the pier, and onto the main road, headed towards tomorrow's horizon.