A.N. - Here is my next chapter! I hope y'all enjoy :D

Chapter 20: Dinner with a Criminal

It is not long until Pedro pulls into a parking lot at a restaurant and parks his car. Adriana hops out before Pedro has even applied the parking brake and looks at the building. "Looks nice..." She says. 'Probably would be a nice place to rob one of these days, too...' She thinks. 'Most expensive places like this are pretty good pickings...'

Pedro nods as he gets out. "Which is why I wanted to make sure that I look good." He says. He then opens the door and holds it for her. She in return looks at him weirdly and then waddles inside. She is really not used to all this gentlemanly, manner stuff that he does. Jabez never did any of it. He was always rather rude and just always trying to get her in the bed with him. Pedro, besides his time of being drunk, has been almost a complete opposite, and she has to admit that she likes that about him. She watches as he waddles over to a penguin at a counter and asks for a nice table for two.

"Right this way, Señor." The penguin says and grabs two menus before starting off towards a table. Adriana and Pedro follow her to the table where Pedro gets Adriana's seat pulled out for her. She sits down in the seat and he takes a seat in the chair across from her. The waitress sits their menus in front of them and then waddles off. The two penguins each pick up their menu and looks at it as they decide what they want.

Soon a different waiter comes over with a small notepad. "Are you ready to order, ustedes*?" He asks.

Pedro looks at Adriana and she nods. Pedro then nods, too and looks at their waiter. "Ah, sí." He says. "I'll have the ceviche de pescado* with arroz*." He says.

The waiter jots this down with a nod. "And to drink, señor?"

"Ehm, just water, thank you." He says and then looks at Adriana.

"Umm...I think I'll have the trucha*." Adriana says, closing her menu. "And I'll take a water también." The waiter nods and waddles away with the orders and the menus. Adriana and Pedro then look at each other. "Soo..."

"So what?" Pedro asks with a smile.

Adriana shrugs a bit. "Nada." She says. She then leans a little to the left to look over Pedro's shoulder at a family in one of the booths.

Pedro looks curiously at her. "What are you looking at?" He asks and turns a bit to try to see what she is looking at. Instantly he feels his stomach drop. "Oh kipper...I'm screwed..." He mutters and turns back around in his seat to face Adriana again.

"Isn't that your friend from your wallet?" Adriana asks and looks at him curiously. "And why are you screwed?"

Pedro swallows. "Yes, that is Bob..." He says. "Ehm...Eh...Let's just say...I haven't been a hundred percent...Euhm...Honest with him lately..." He says.

Adriana raises her nonexistent eyebrows amusedly. "Really?" She says and smirks a bit. "And how's that going for you, Sr. Goody-two-zapatos*?"

Pedro looks at her unamusedly. "Horribly..."

"I'm not surprised." Adriana laughs. "Well, for your sake let's just hope that he doesn't notice us."

Pedro nods in agreement. The waiter returns with their meals and they start on them. "Ro? Is that you?" Bob asks as he waddles back from the bathroom and had seen Pedro and Adriana's table.

Pedro nearly chokes on his bite of fish. "Ehm, hey, Bobby, didn't expect you meet you here." He says with smile as he tries to play it 'cool'.

"Nor I you...Especially after you said you were going to lay low and spend some time being single..." Bob says with a small, curious frown as he looks over at Adriana. Adriana just takes a sip of her drink with a small shrug.

"Uh yeah...That's what I thought too..." Pedro lies. "But, um, then Adriana called asking if we could maybe go out for dinner as she was in the area." He says.

"Oh..." Bob replies slowly, though not completely sounding convinced by Pedro. He looks at Adriana. "And this is that girl you got drunk about last night?" He asks.

Pedro nods. "Sí, Bobby, this is Adriana. Adriana, this my friend Bob." He says, introducing the two. He watches as they shake flippers.

"Nice to meet you." Adriana says with a smile. She has decided to be nice and play along with Pedro's little charade.

"Yes, nice to meet you, too..." Bob says, looking at her. He isn't completely sure that she looks like the right kind of girl for his friend. "And Ro said you were in the area? May I ask why, just for curiosity's sake?"

Adriana nods some. "Well, Pedro had already given me his card before he had to go, so...I decided to come for a visit." She lies and fakes a loving smile at him. "I missed him."

Bob looks at her, still not completely convinced, but nods. "Alright..." He says and then clasps Pedro on the shoulder. "Can we talk before you go, I mean like after you both are done eating?"

Pedro looks up at him and nods. "Of course, Bobby." He says.

"Good." Bob says and then waddles back to his booth.

Pedro gives a small sigh when Bob is gone again. "That was just... Whew..." He murmurs and wipes his flipper over his face.

Adriana laughs a bit. "It's something you have to get used to." She says. "Just takes practice, though, and for you being someone who doesn't seem much like a liar, I'm impressed." She smiles at him.

"Oh yeah, and that's exactly what I want to hear." Pedro says with a small chuckle, shaking his head some.

"Ah! And why isn't it!?" Adriana jokes. "Surely you want your novia to be impressed with you!?" She laughs.

"Not when it is over being dishonest…" He says, shaking his head. "He's my best friend...I tell him everything…"

Adriana looks at him and takes a sip of her drink. "Except now, seeing as how you've now lied to him...And, I might be wrong, but I'm pretty sure that you're not telling him everything if you're lying." She says.

Pedro nods a bit and looks at the table. "Yeah…" He sighs a bit. "I know…" They both then go back to eating their dinner. Pedro stays mostly silent and in thought for a good bit and Adriana does not say anything either for a while and lets Pedro have his quietness.

After a while, though, Adriana breaks the silence. "And your friend...He's married?" She asks, looking over at that table again.

"Yeah, he is and they have a hijo*...Why?" He asks and looks at her curiously.

Adriana just shrugs a bit. "What's her name?" She thinks that Bob's wife looks oddly familiar to her from this angle.

He looks at Adriana and thinks for a moment. "Uhm...Risette?" He then says.

"Oh, okay." She then replies and nods some. 'So she doesn't just look familiar...She flipping is familiar. No doubt that's that spy Jabez introduced me to a few years back...Didn't know she was married though…I wonder if she still does her spy-work for Jabez's gang...' She muses silently.

They both then go back to eating silently for awhile. "So...When do you want us to go by your old house and get your things?" Pedro finally asks as he has finished his plate.

"Eh." She shrugs. "Doesn't really matter, I guess." She says. "Just whenever we feel like it, I suppose."

Pedro nods some. "Alright." He says. The waiter soon shows up again with the bill and Pedro takes out his wallet and pays with his credit card, since Adriana already has spent out all of his cash on things at the store. The waiter goes off with the bill and card and Adriana and Pedro look at each other again.

"This being 'good' thing you were talking about earlier...Like what's that?" She then asks quietly.

"Ehm...You know...Like not murdering penguins who make you mad? Being respectful of others and their things. Not robbing places?" Pedro says with a shrug. "I mean, I'm fine with you being sarcastic and stuff...Just, you know...Keep it legal?" He says with a small smile.

"Legal...Legal…" Adriana taps her beak a bit. "What is this 'legal' you speak of, Copper?" She asks, though she really does know what it means.

Pedro just looks at her. "You know what it means. Don't do something I wouldn't do."

"So, lying is alright?" Adriana then smirks.

He narrows his eyes a bit. "That was a low blow…" He mutters.

She just shrugs a bit. "But, you can't say that you didn't have it coming."

"Hypocrite…" Pedro then murmurs, really not amused by Adriana.

"No, I'm not a hypocrite." Adriana says, looking at him. "I never said that I don't lie. I just said you do, too, which you cannot deny without being one yourself." She says and finishes her drink.

Pedro just gives a small, slightly irritated snort before checking the time on his phone. "Well...I guess I'll go see what Bob was wanting to talk about and then we can go." He says with a short nod and gets up.

Adriana watches him go and rolls her eyes some. "He really can't take any jokes, can he?" She snorts and gets up, too.

Pedro and Bob stand outside of the restaurant, leaning against the wall. Bob is holding his young son Edmond and shifts him a bit and looks at Pedro. "So, she really is that hot girl you got all upset over?" He asks.

"Yep." Pedro says with a small nod and looks at Bob. "Why?"

"No reason...She just doesn't seem like your type." Bob shrugs. Edmond looks curiously at his daddy and his 'uncle' Pedro and sucks on his flipper softly.

Pedro shrugs. "I agree. She isn't my usual type...She actually can be quite the pain in the neck." He says with a small unamused laugh.

"So, why date her? Why not break up and move on, like I thought you were doing?" Bob asks, looking at his friend seriously.

"She might be a pain, but...I like her." Pedro says and looks at Bob. "I mean, we have very...Very little in common...And she's a little mean...But...She's like a puzzle." He then says and looks at Bob. "I just haven't figured her out really yet is all."

Bob just looks at him. "You're just dating her because she's a hot puzzle?" He says with a slightly amused look.

"What? No." He says shaking his head.

"Because that is pretty much what you just said." Bob says and pets Edmond for a moment.

Pedro sighs. "It's complicated...I like her even though she could possibly make my life extremely irritating and difficult...Like Risette does for you."

Bob looks at Pedro surprised. "What?"

"What what? Your wife is mean, Bobby! You know that! I never approved of her in the first place, recuerde*?"

"Risette is not! And she doesn't make my life irritating or difficult either!" He exclaims.

Pedro looks at him. "And I guess she isn't witchy either, eh?" Bob just looks at him open beaked and Edmond obliviously babbles softly and looks at a leaf. "I mean, Adriana and Risette actually seem to have very similar personalities I must say...They're both sarcastic and manipulative…" He says thoughtfully.

"Risette is not manipulative." Bob growls, narrowing his eyes.

"Yes, she is, Bob! How many times has that mujer made you do something you hadn't wanted to?! Just think about it...Okay? I'm not saying that she's evil...But, you already know I've never trusted her." Pedro says, looking at him and then at the ground.

"No, I won't think of it." Bob snorts a bit and shakes his head in disbelief. " My Risette is not manipulative...Not in the least…" He mutters in denial.

Pedro sighs a bit and is silent for a bit before he looks at Bob again. "I'm sorry...I shouldn't have said all of this…" He says silently.

Bob looks at him but then nods a bit. "It's alright…" He says and pets Edmond's back some. "You're stressed about something, aren't you?" He asks then.

"Maybe…" Pedro says silently.

Bob nods understandingly and pats him on the shoulder. "Want to talk about it?"

"No…" He replies with a small smile. "I'll be fine…" He says, mostly to insure himself than Bob. He just doesn't think that he can admit to Bob yet about how he has been lying so much to him.

Adriana washes her flippers in the bathroom as Risette waddles in. She looks over at her with narrowed eyes. "We've met before…" She says.

Risette smirks at her as she waddles over to the neighboring sink to fix her make-up. "You're brighter than I first thought." She says. "Didn't see what Dr. Stanton saw in you when he introduced us…"

"The same things Pedro sees, I guess." Adriana says, sticking her tongue out at her. "And you're hitched with a kid? How does that work with being a spy?" She asks. "Or did you quit?"

"Quit? Ha ha! You're joking?" Risette laughs and fixes her mascara. "My marriage is part of my mission. What better way to get information than to sneak it from your husband as he starts working higher up in the system!?"

Adriana looks at her with a smirk. "You sly spy." She laughs. "And he doesn't suspect anything you're doing?"

"Not a thing at all." She grins. "He's always too busy doing what I want or coping with me yelling at him otherwise."

"And yet he stays with you still?" Adriana says with raised nonexistent eyebrows.

Risette nods and fixes her feathers. "Oui. He's just stubbornly, irritatingly loyal. I hate him so much, but the gang pays pretty well for information. Plus, I get to make free visits to Paris as my dear husband pays for them. " She laughs, but then looks seriously at Adriana. "And don't you dare tell anyone about this." She growls.

"Of course. And don't you tell anyone about me and Pedro either, deal?" She says and holds her flipper out to Risette.

Risette nods and shakes her flipper. "Deal." They both then waddle out from the restroom.

Pedro sees Adriana waddling out of the restaurant finally and gives a small, parting nod to Bob and Edmond. He then goes and opens the passenger door for Adriana. She gets into the car without a word and he does the same after shutting her door. Pedro then silently starts driving the car back towards his house. Adriana looks at him a bit curiously as she is not used to him really being this quiet for so long. "Something wrong?" She asks, not really caring much, just a little bit.

"Nothing I want to discuss." Pedro says with a glance towards her as he drives.

"Conscience problems?" She then asks.

"I said that I don't want to talk about it, Adriana." He says again as he drives.

Adriana looks at him. "So it is that?" She asks, looking at him.

"What part of 'I do NOT want to TALK about IT' DON'T you comprendes*?!" Pedro growls and glares at her.

Adriana looks at him with a raised nonexistent eyebrow. "The fact that you're getting angry over it means that it's got to be something that should be talked about." She says.

Pedro shoots her another glare. "Fine." He mutters. "It is. I can't stand lying to Bob like this…"

"Then why do you continue? I mean, why continue to conceal the truth from him if it bothers you so much, Copper? What are you scared of?" She asks curiously. "And do not give me a 'it's complicated' response."

"Well…" Pedro sighs. "It's complicated." He then gives a small grinning glance at Adriana. "It's not that I don't trust Bob...It's just...I am not sure how he would take the fact that you are a criminal...He's extremely against being in serious relationships with convicts and is just against criminals in general!" He says.

Adriana has to bite her tongue at that to keep from laughing. 'And yet he is married to a spy for the fastest growing gang around, the Stanton Gang.' She thinks really amused. "Is that so?" She then says and shrugs. "What's the worst he could do?"

"He could tell my superiors and they would fire and arrest me and arrest you." He says shortly and looks over at her as he parks his Camaro at his house.

"Oh…" She says thoughtfully. That does seem like a high risk to her for Pedro to tell his friend the truth.

"Exactly." Pedro says and nods and gets out of his car.

Translations:

* Ustedes : plural and polite form of 'you'

* Ceviche de pescado : fish marinated in lemon juice with sliced onions and hot sauce

*Arroz : rice

*Trucha : fried trout served with steamed rice and salad

*Zapatos : shoes

*Hijo : son

*Recuerde : remember

*Comprendes : understand