Xero threw the remains of her cotton candy sick into a nearby trashcan; Zero, already having finished his, continued to walk by her side towards what Xero hoped to finally make her confession. The giant Ferris wheel, located within the heart of the fairgrounds.

Each cart was more akin to a small booth, the whole booth looking like a bifurcated hexagon, with two long rubber seats and a secure metal bar in the middle of the booth. Each booth had a canopy on top that connected to the other half of the hexagon, with windowless openings between the two halves.

Xero and Zero walked up in line to the operator. "How many are going," the tired-looking man asked for the billionth time today in a monotone voice.

"Just the two of us," Zero said excitedly.

The man rolled his eyes as he guided the duo toward an empty cart. "Please remember to keep all hands, feet, and items within the booth at all times," the man said as he closed the latch on the booth. "And remember to have a great day," he said as he secured the latches on the cart. "Next!" he yelled.

Xero felt her fingernails dig into the hard leather seat. While she didn't fear heights or rides, she could feel the worry of how and what she would say weighing on her.

"If you wait forever, you may lose your opportunity," she thought to herself as she clutched the hidden item within her pocket. "I got to do this. I can do this. I can't wait and hope that he will."

Jay Poppyfield, father of Xero Poppyfield, walked through the halls of the detention center with cuffs hanging loosely around his wrists and a guard watching him from behind.

As they reached the elevator, another guard approached them. "What's going on here," she asked with a high level of command.

"Prisoner transfer," Katz said. "Vein intends to interrogate this scum."

"Why wasn't I informed?" the guard asked suspiciously.

"I don't know, but I can call up Vein, and you can ask him yourself," Katz said calmly.

"No, no!" she said in a panic, "that that won't be necessary," she said as she brought up her hands defensively. "And might I just say everyone is upset you didn't get the promotion, John."

"Next time," Katz said through clean teeth.

Katz quickly shoved Jay past her and back towards the elevator.

"Promotion," Jay finally asked as soon as they were out of earshot.

"You steal someone's identity for a day, and that's all anyone can talk about," Katz said as he rolled his eyes under his mask.

As they approached the elevator, Jay felt his breath leave his lungs at the sight of his beloved wife being escorted towards the same elevator. "Juno," he said under his breath.

"Don't break character," Katz warned as they reached the elevator.

Both duos, Katz and Jay, and Susan and Juno, entered the elevator without saying a word as the doors closed.

As soon as the doors sealed shut, Jay turned to his wife, and she did the same.

"Jay," Juno said eagerly, "I've seen our daughter."

Martin looked out his window as he and his partner continued to drive to their destination in their Modifyers issued car. Yet all he could think about was his beloved Niki, and how she made him feel. And how he hoped she felt about him. A few months ago, he had taken the first step of asking her out, and to his surprise, she had said yes, and it was at that moment he knew he would do anything to keep her safe. "I regret nothing," he thought to himself.

Martin snapped back to reality as their vehicle came to a stop. As he looked outside the windshield, he saw a large individual leaning against an electrical pole.

"This is the individual causing the disturbance. Our reports say he's from below ground. We are only to escort him back down or take him back to Hq if he is drunk or resists," Martin's partner said as he exited the vehicle, Martin following behind him.

"Hello, sir," Martin said calmly, "we need to see your ID to verify that you are safe to be above ground."

The figure did not turn or move. The only sound Martin could hear was the splintering sound of the electrical pole as it began to bend against the weight of the figure.

"Sir," Martin pressed on, his hand already on his stun gun.

With incredible strength, the figure leaned what must have been all of its weight against the electrical pole, bringing it down with ease, like a bear pulling down a decayed tree.

Martin and his partner watched in horror as the electrical pole fell, and the whole block was quickly consumed in darkness.

without another moment to lose, Martin's partner retrieved his communicator, his stun gun in his other hand. "We have a situation. Hostile may be dangerous. We need -"

Martin turned, wondering why his partner had stopped talking to HQ. It was then that Martin saw what had happened. In the moonlight, a large figure was holding his partner by the throat above the ground. Around his head, he wore what looked like a gas mask, yet it was his eyes, or lack of them, that startled him. In place of eyes were red sensors that moved and looked at him, like the eyes of a predator stalking its prey.

Martin quickly activated his communicator. "The situation is out of control. Send back up immediately. I repeat, send back up imm-"

Martin's words were quickly halted as a woman with short blue hair appeared out of nowhere, and with a punch as strong as any boxer he had trained against, knocked him out.

The figure that had pulled down the electrical pole slowly shuffled over to Martin, and with long sharp fingers, it picked up his communicator. Roach slowly brought the communicator to his face, and a sinister grin crossed his face.

Zero watched with anticipation as the Farris wheel neared the top, a view that would show almost the entirety of the city. But Xero kept her eyes on Zero, looking at him as warmly as he looked at the city. She could feel her breathing quicking as she tried to fix her hair. "You can do this," she thought to herself.

She stepped back from him and tried to sit comfortably on the long Ferris wheel seat.

Zero turned away from the city view and toward his partner, "You alright?" he asked with a confused face.

"Yea, why?" Xero asked as she had her legs sticking forward, one over the other, and her back halfway down the seat in what looked like an uncomfortable position. Xero realized she was struggling to mimic a relaxed pose. "good view," she finally said as she continued to try to get comfortable.

"Yes, you are," he said, looking at her with the same warm affection he had looking at the city.

Xero felt her head shoot up. "What was that?" she asked, unsure if she misheard what he said. She could see his face turn instantly red.

"I said… I -I love this view," Zero said as he tried to laugh his slip up away.

As Xero lowered her head due to her self causing frustration, Zero smacked his own. "What's with me. Why did I say that?" he thought to himself.

After what felt like an eternity, Zero finally took a seat beside Xero. He could only look at her, unsure what to say, if anything at all. He could hear her as she let out a frustrated sigh.

"Zero," she finally said as she turned to him, placing her hands within his gloved hands. "I have something to tell you."

"Yes," he said as he felt his heart racing, unsure if what he thought was happening was happening.

"I-" Xero suddenly stopped as the Farris wheel jolted to a violent stop. Xero quickly rose from her seat. "What happened," she yelled down to the tired operator.

"Powers out somewhere in town, and the emergency generator is not cranking up. So it may take some time before we can get you down."

Xero slowly slumped back in her seat. She then turned to Zero, unsure what to say, if anything. She couldn't help but feel defeated, as though the universe was against the idea of her asking him out. "Why do I even try anymore," she asked out loud. "I wanted you to enjoy this day," she said, turning to her partner, "and considering how it's going right now, we are practically prisoners on this death wheel."

Zero slowly stood up from his seat and looked at the black sky and partially blacked-out city. "I'm not a prisoner," he said, "as long as I am with you."

"What," she asked again, lost in her thoughts.

He motioned for her to stand next to him. As she rose from her seat, she could see the black-out sky. But unlike before, she could now see stars, and not just one or two, but what looked like an ocean worth of them.

"So this is what caught your eye," she said, leaning against the railing, looking out at the night sky with the same awe as him.

He slowly turned to her. "It wasn't the only thing," he said under his breath. She only turned to him, unaware of what he quietly said, but he turned his head back to the stars, not wanting her to see his blushing face.

"Have you ever wanted something so badly but knew you couldn't have it," she finally asked him.

"Yes," he said without hesitation.

Xero couldn't help but let out another frustrated sigh as she lowered her head. "I'm caught between what I want and what I should do. And what if what I want doesn't work out at all?" Xero said as she closed her eyes, the painful thought of rejection creeping into her mind.

"Xero," Zero said in his usual warm tone, now turned to her. "Most of our missions are a series of events not working out, yet, you and me, we always get through these things together. You are a good person, so why shouldn't you get what you want? If you are facing a problem, we'll solve it together. Like we always have," he said as he extended his hand out to her.

She slowly lifted her head back up and looked at the gloved hand and then at him. Xero took a minute to reflect on this moment. In small moments throughout this night, Xero had come to believe he felt the same way about her as she did about him. she saw this in the way he talked to her with care and compassion, and the ways he looked at her with warm and kind eyes. "But what if I am wrong?" she thought to herself. "what could I lose?"

She then focused back on Zero, who looked at her awkwardly with his still outstretched hand.

"I understand if you want to solve this problem on your own," he said understandingly, "And I don't mean to push you on anything you don't want to talk about. But remember, you are not alone," he said as he started to bring down his hand.

"No," Xero thought as she quickly reached out and took his hand, locking her fingers within his. She could hear an audible gasp from Zero at the sight of their joined hands.

Xero took a long deep breath as she looked into his eyes, taking a step toward him. He instinctively took a step back, the two of them in sync with the other until Zero felt the back of the Farris wheel booth press against him.

"I don't want to be alone anymore," she said, approaching him closer than she ever dared to before. "What I want is…" she said as she gently reached out for his other hand, locking her fingers with his as she had with the first one. "Is you," she said, quickly burying her face in his chest, hoping that he would either reciprocate her feelings or, at the least, didn't hear her confession at all.

Xero felt her heartbreak into two as Zero slowly unlocked one of his hands and gently pulled her away from his chest. She could only hold her head down, not out of disappointment but out of cold hard acceptance. "Why didn't I stay quiet," she thought to herself.

"I want the same," he suddenly said, breaking her out of her grief.

Xero's head quickly shot up as she looked into his eyes and then into his hand. In his hand, he held onto a mood ring in between his fingers and held it out to her as though it were a precious stone.

"I saved a few tickets I won from that ring toss and bought this on a whim," he said sheepishly. "I didn't know when, but I knew I wanted to give this to you."

With her free hand, Xero reached into her coat pocket and retrieved an identical mood ring. "I guess we both want the same thing," Xero said as she unlocked her hands and sat down on the Ferris wheel seat, her eyes down on her feet, her face enveloped in a deep red blush.

"What do we do," Zero asked with concern as he then took a seat right beside her. Like Xero, his gaze was on the ground, and his face was enveloped in a red huge.

"We could get in a lot of trouble," Xero said to him and herself. "I don't want you living on the streets again," she said, turning to him, "you can't go back to being a hobo."

"And you have been an agent for nearly your whole life. You can't throw that away now," he said as he turned to look at her, "you have dedicated so much time and energy to this."

They both let out a frustrated sigh.

"Why did we admit anything if we know it cant happen," Zero asked jokingly.

"Xero just shrugged, "maybe we both knew we would have to talk about this eventually."

"So now what," he asked again.

"We could be together in secret," Xero finally said as she remembered Niki and her boyfriend, Martin. "We already live together. Would anyone even notice?"

Zero's face turned to one of concern. "What about Mole? You know how much of a sticker he is for the rules."

"We can keep a secret from him, and if he believes that we're only friends, where's the harm in that?" she tried to reason, already knowing this argument was flimsy at best.

Xero could see the conflict in Zero's face as he rose from his seat. "We both may want to, but we cant," he said as calmly as he could, yet Xero couldn't help but notice the shakiness in his voice. "You can lose everything you have."

"You're all I want," Xero blurted out. She watched as her words caused his face to shift from joy to sadness to grief.

"Don't we both deserve what we want," Xero asked as she could see his stern face soften from her words. She slowly extended her hand to him. "You are my sunshine," she said softly.

He turned to her and didn't see a hint of anger or disappointment in her face. Instead, what he saw was a kind, inviting smile, and he could feel the indescribable warmth radiating from her. His eyes slowly drifted away from her face and to her tempting hand. He knew the risks and knew she was willing to risk it all for him. "Am I willing to do the same," he thought to himself.

Zero slowly extended his hand and locked his fingers with hers again as she slowly guided him to sit down next to her again. "My only sunshine," he continued.

"You make me happy when skies are gray," she continued.

"You'll never know, dear, how much I…." Zero stopped and looked her directly in the eyes, and she looked back at him with her kind eyes. "I love you," he finally said with a warm smile.

"Please don't take my sunshine away," she said as she closed her eyes and gently rested her head on his shoulder.

He instinctively tensed up but soon relaxed to the feel of her head on his shoulder. He closed his eyes and turned his head, giving a light kiss to her forehead. Xero couldn't help but smile a warm smile at what was an innocent kiss.

The duo sat in silence, purely enjoying the other's company, neither one aware that the grinding sound of the Ferris wheel had started up again.