IF Chapter 3
Kuo's POV
My God. McGrath had asked her out on a date! Kuo, being the professional she was, had never thought about Cole like that. Hell, it had been a while since she had thought of any man like that. True, when she saw an especially great looking guy, she couldn't help a dirty thought or two, but agency training had taught her to not make any personal relationships. She didn't disagree with the rules, but she thought it was impossible if she worked with the same people for years. She couldn't help but become friends with John, and Wolfe, and the recruits from the agency that she had bled alongside. Now though, with the Lock Down on New Marais, and every agent that was working the case with her dead, the agency had considered Wolfe's plan a failure, and were now resorting in investing everything with the army. When Kuo had disagreed, insisting that Cole was the answer, they had cut her off, fired and iced. That was when Kuo knew she had invested everything in Cole… and Zeke. And Wolfe of course, Yeah.
"Should I wear something special? Is this a dating date? Or do I go casual? Do I even qualify as casual?" Kuo said talking to herself. Wait, did I even say yes? I mean, yeah, I might have flirted with him a bit at the cemetery, but I was just being nice. I don't even like Cole that way. "Aaaahhh! Forget it. I'll just go and wing it. Oh who am I kidding, I haven't winged anything since the 6th grade.
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Cole had invited Kuo to some fancy restaurant called Le Cinq. Real highbrow kind of place, granted Kuo had plenty of exposure to all kinds of places. In an agent's life, Kuo thought she had seen everything. She wasn't so sure what she was doing here, until she realized that she couldn't think of a single reason to not get attached to Cole. So, here she was, waiting for him. Naturally, she had shown up three hours early to scope out the place, who's going to be working while they were there. And then spent the next two hours rehearsing possible dinner conversations. Yeah, Kuo knew she had too much free time.
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Kuo saw Cole climb down a roof a few blocks away. She had to give him credit, he almost always jumped off roofs. She figured he wanted to attract as little attention as possible, something she confirmed when she noticed he didn't have the Amp. As cute as the idea was, Kuo had stopped bothering with the mini-crowd constantly snapping pics at her. " Cole. I'm glad you're here. I was beginning to think you'd never show."
"And stand up the beautiful Lucy Kuo, I might be a knuckleheaded deviant, but I'm not stupid. So, shall we?"
" We may." Kou said as Cole opened the door for him.
"Excuse me sir, do you- oh my. Wow, it's the electri- I mean Cole McGrath! How, how, how can I help you today sir?" Said a rather young-looking waiter.
"My friend and I would like a table please." Cole said calmly.
"Uhh, sure thing sir. Do you, well, have a reservation?"
"See that's the thing, let's take a quick walk bud. Hey, is that camera yours? Maybe we could work something out, Kuo, go ahead and find yourself a seat anywhere you'd like. I'll work out the details." Cole said walking into the kitchen with the young man sucking up every word he said.
"I wonder what Cole is going to do. He wouldn't threaten him, would he?" Would Cole go so out of his way for me?" Kuo ended up deciding not to overthink it too much, ironically enough. "Oooohh, that's' the best view ever!"
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"So the guys asks me, 'Why would some college hot-shot want to be a bike messenger?' And I said, Honestly, to piss of my parents!"
"Ahahaha, you're terrible! You know that Cole?"
"I know, I know. So what about you? What was your last job? And no, even though your new job is being a super hero, being an agent doesn't count."
"Well, I the only other job I had was working at a small coffee shop. That job covered everything my scholarship didn't and I honestly worked there more for the experience than the cash." Kou said, finishing off her glass of wine.
"Kuo, how was there so much about you that I didn't know?" Cole asked looking out the glass wall next to them, refusing to make eye contact and embarrass himself.
"Well, no one's ever asked. I always figured that people wouldn't care about me." This was when Kuo noticed that Cole wasn't paying her attention. Ohhh, that does it! He acts great the entire date… I mean lunch… and now of all times does he ignore me? As I pour my heart out! "Cole McGra-."
"Hey Kuo, look at that over there." Cole says without taking his eyes off whatever it was.
"What could be so- COLE! That's one of those dirty bombs!"
" A bomb? What are you talking about? That cop over there would've made those people step back if that was the case."
"Cole, we have to get over there now!" Kuo practically shouts as she teleports about half way to the bomb in the air. Cole pulls out about $50 more dollars than he needed to pay the bill. Damn, to think I worked for all that money and didn't even get to show off to Kuo. He was about to start the dash for the stairs when he saw the bomb go off. Kuo was still teleporting through the air when a piece of rubble flew through the air and got her. "KUO!" Cole shouted as he threw his wallet on the table and jumped through the window.