Note: Kept you waiting, huh?

"Would you like fries with that?" I can feel my smile slipping even as I repeat words I say so often I can say them while sound asleep.

Drool leaks from the customer's lips as he pretends to look at the menu on the counter while actually staring at my boobs. "Uh… y-yah, fries. Large, overstuffed, pair of fries-"

"Two large fries." I plug two additional orders into the computer, ignoring that this definitely wasn't what he ordered. As a leering tax, I'm taking the extra order. He's probably not gonna notice.

"Yeah…" He finally wipes the drool off his face. "Here."

He pulls some physical credits out and cups them in his hand to drop them into mine.

Nope. Not playing this game. "Here you go." I lift up a small basket.

He deposits the change into the basket without disguising the disappointment on his face.

Fuck off.

I quickly make change and push the basket back over, and he trudges away with a number and a grumble.

"Man, you were pretty cold to him, no?"

"Shut up, Rakim." I rub my temples. "He was staring at my boobs."

"Yeah, but…" His brow furrows. "W-well, I guess you don't like that, huh?"

"Nobody does!" I snap at him. "Women put up with it because it's impossible to stop!"

"Okay, I get it!" He puts his hands up in defense. "I'm sorry, I just can't help it."

"I… I know, but…" I cross my arms over my chest and look away. He is getting better, but it's still weird.

"A-anyway, how's your girlfriend doing?" He desperately looks for another topic.

"She's doing pretty good." I lean on the counter, lowering myself so I'm not dangling my assets onto the counter surface for the next idiot who walks up to my counter. "Had to get Eva give her a check-up recently, and her expanded-"

"Bonjour ma chère!"

My eyes flick up to see-

Oh no.

No, no no no.

Five-seveN leans down on the counter to meet my eyes. "Ms. Alexandria?"

"H-hi, Adeline." I reach deep and recall her human-interaction name. "Fancy meeting you here."

"Oui, very much a coincidence!"

Another person walks into the restaurant, her hair tied by a bright blue bow into a pony-tail. "Alex, we need you for an important mission!"

I blink.

Beside me, Rakim perks up. "Oh? So I guess you're dolls then?"

Five-seveN barely glances at him with a sneer before her expression reverts to a calm smile and she returns to speaking to me. "Truthfully, we need someone with your exact specifications for our job."

"I already told Gentiane I'm not gonna do more jobs."

FAL walks up to the counter. "This one isn't sent by Gentiane. It's one for us in the FN team."

I can feel a frown tugging at my lips. If it's the FN team's job, then shouldn't I already have heard of it through P90? "Can you give me details?"

"Oui." Five-seveN pulls out a small notebook. "Can you ask for three-" She looks away. "Five days off? Starting tomorrow."

"I suppose."

I walk back into the manager's small space and start asking for the time off, getting interrogated about the reason I want off, asking me to figure out someone else to cover my shifts, all the stupid shit that really shouldn't exist in a modern society but here we are-

And in the end my manager still said 'no'. Dickhead.

I walk back up to the front counter just in time to see FAL and Five-seveN glaring at the guy who was staring at my chest earlier. He seems to be turning red, though if just in anger or something else I don't know yet.

"Hey!" I call out, hands reaching for the newly set up tray. "Sir, your order is done!"

I set the plastic tray on the counter next to him, and he switches his glare from the two dolls to me. "I can't believe you allow things like that into your stores!"

'That'? My eyes narrow. "You have a problem with them?"

"Yeah, I have a problem." He leans over. "I can't believe they're allowed outside without proper restraints, they're dirty, and their eyes freak me out!"

My hands ball into fists and I have to restrain myself from slamming them into something. "I'm sorry, but I happen to like them, and to suggest they need restraints-"

"Lady, this is a restaurant!" He doesn't quite exhibit the same level of self control I do, his own hands slamming on the counter. "It'll ruin the food!"

"Uh, Alex?" Rakim says meekly, distracting me from my glaring contest.

"What?!"

"He's talking about the ferret."

I glance over at FAL's shoulder, where Fel is busy sniffing at the food smells in the air.

"Oh." I can feel my cheeks begin to color. "Sorry."

The man snatches his food away. "I'm gonna report this to your manager."

I watch him go with a sinking feeling.

Rakim gives me a look. "Aren't you already on your last warning?"

I nod. "Uh, so since I might be out of a job soon, maybe I'll need this other one?"

Five-seveN grins. "Merveilleux. We'll swing by your place tomorrow morning."

I tug at the hem of the skirt my girlfriend had picked out for me. Despite a year of having this body, I'm still not comfortable with the short hems on some of the more fashionable dresses.

Though, given FAL's and Five-seveN's reaction, it's not that fashionable at all. I thought it was nice, a sundress in an inoffensive light blue, but when the duo saw it, they just turned to each other and rolled their eyes. Personally, I don't think that the outfits they have on are much better. While mine is understated, theirs are sure to draw plenty of attention.

FAL's got on a denim jacket with roses sewn onto it over a black shirt with denim bell-bottom jeans and non-descript black flats. Now, this wouldn't be too abnormal, but she's also replaced the large blue ribbon with a giant fake rose that Fel is running around, treating the folds of the petal like walls of a maze. The movement gives the headwear the appearance of almost pulsing, giving the entire costume a grotesque feeling.

Five-seveN's clothes are more outrageous. Instead of actual clothing, she's decided to wear what at first glance could be a wetsuit, but upon further inspection is small strips of carbon fiber about a quarter inch wide wound around and around until every inch of skin below her neck is covered. When she moves, the layers shift around. Fortunately, she's wearing half a dozen layers of the stuff. Unfortunately, she's already admitted it's going to take an hour to remove. I cannot fathom wearing something that takes an entire hour to put on, even if when my girlfriend insists on putting my makeup on she takes about that long…

"So, where are we going?" I peer out the window of the taxi. "You still haven't told me."

"Why, we're going to the Paris Fashion Week!" Five-seveN beams. "I've always wanted to go!"

FAL nods. "We have three spots picked, and we need you to help."

"...Paris?" I blanche. "I told-"

"Oui, oui." Five-seveN sighs. "It's not actually in Paris this year, since it's still a radioactive crater. It's in Belgrade. Your precious girlfriend won't miss you for long."

"Oh."

"You did tell her you're going to be gone for a few days, yes?" FAL asks.

"Yeah." I look back down at my plain dress. "If I had known it was going to be a fancy place, I would've dressed up a bit."

"That will not be a problem." FAL smiles. "After all, we have plenty of other options for you to pick from!"

I mean… yeah, they both had pretty big wardrobes last time I saw them, and while their tastes in clothes are kind of eclectic, they at least have some more normal stuff… "Okay. Are we stopping at your place first then?"

"Non! Our outfits have already been delivered to the event." Five-seveN relaxes back in her seat. "We've got a few picked out for you…" She trails off as her eyes drift down over my form.

"...What?"

"You haven't been keeping up with your physical activities, have you?"

"Well, no. I don't go into combat anymore." I shrug. "Why?"

"Most of the dresses are fitted to your old body proportions." FAL frowns. "We may need to tailor them slightly."

"I didn't get fat." I growl.

"Nobody said you did." Five-seveN gently grabs my arm and wraps her index finger and thumb into a ring around my lower arm. "You've gotten skinnier, if anything. You need more muscle mass."

"I'm perfectly comfortable not having to maintain muscles, thanks." I sigh. "Don't you know how much harder it is to stay strong now that I'm a woman? I used to be strong without trying too hard, but now I can spend months at a gym only to maintain what I had before."

"Chère, we don't talk about the dark before times." Five-seveN puts her nose in the air. "This week shall be a glorious girl's night out, and we will have no bitter memories clouding our good time."

Despite myself, my lips curl up at the edges. "Thank you, really. I… Well, I never really wanted to go to a fashion show, but I guess it might be a fun experience. How did you score three tickets though? I assume it has to do with your job, but-"

"Tickets?" FAL blinks. "Non, Alex, we're participating!"

My blood runs cold.

"Alex, we shall soon arrive." Five-seveN brushes off the shoulder of my nice, blue, sane dress that I can already feel being torn from my control. "We'll get you fitted, and then we'll get you into your first dress."

"I don't suppose it's too late to back out?"

So many people. I can feel my shoulders hunch over as I try to make myself as small as possible.

The three of us are in the dressing room, and so many people in strange and wacky costumes are walking in and out constantly, some of them only stopping for long enough to have some others help them into a new set of clothes and turn right back around and head back out onto the runway.

Ah, the runway.

I had a chance to look at it while everything was being set up before, a long stage surrounded by seats on three sides that ends in a larger circular area where the person wearing the clothes is supposed to pose and turn around. If I was out in the audience, I could at least admire the interesting work regardless of outfit practicality.

But no, I'm doomed to wear one of these and walk out onto a stage.

"What's wrong, mon Chère?" Five-seveN's gentle fingers caress my chin and redirect my face more into the light, where she can properly apply the makeup I tended to forgo.

"I don't want to go out on stage." I grumble. "I wouldn't have agreed if you had told me beforehand."

"Which is why we didn't tell you." Five-seveN swaps out one makeup brush for another. "Close your eyes."

I oblige as she continues talking, the cool wet touch of the brush carefully tracing my eyelids.

"P90, FAL and I have been talking, and we decided that you need to get more in touch with your feminine side, and if you don't step outside your comfort zone once and a while you're going to stagnate."

"Okay, but couldn't we just go clothes shopping like normal people?"

She snorts. "Never. Those are clothes for the common folk, not one of such high fashion as I."

"Adeline, you're wearing five layers of carbon fiber ribbon."

"Six. And, it's part of a collection of post-industrial clothes Monsieur Rafale's been designing. All of them incorporate carbon fiber as the main component of the design, and I think it's a good candidate to be added to more clothes now that manufacturing it has become cheap and common. Three of your outfits are also part of the set."

I desperately want to just get up and walk out, but I'm in my underwear and Five-seveN still has her hands applying various cosmetics to my face. "More ribbons?"

"Of course not. This is my outfit, you have your own. Lili should be back with it momentarily."

I try my best to relax and let Five-seveN do her work on my face. Regardless of whether I can actually go out on stage or not, I'm kinda curious as to what my face will look like all made up. My girlfriend and I rarely dress up, and even then I do only the bare basics Lexi taught me to my face on dates.

When Five-seveN's hands finally let go and don't come back with another brush or pen, I dare to crack an eye open and glance at the mirror at our small station.

Uh… wow.

I unconsciously lean in, examining my own face and moving my mouth silently to verify that, yes indeed, that's me I'm seeing. I almost look like an A-doll, every bit of my face perfect.

It's almost distracting enough that I don't immediately notice someone lifting my arm.

When I finally drag myself away from my narcissistic gazing, I notice that FAL's back, an inky black dress almost impossible to parse despite the bright lights.

FAL notes that I'm looking her way and pats my shoulder. "Don't worry, I'll help you put it on."

"It's just a dress, right? I can handle that." I reach out for the garment, noting that while the majority is somehow too black to see, the trim including the pockets are all made of more of the same carbon fiber weave that Five-seveN's ribbon is made out of.

"Ah, you need to remove your bra first." FAL reaches over to the back of clothes beside the dressing table. "Here. This one won't show under the dress."

I hold up the new bra and notice the deep, deep cut right down the center. "Um…"

"Trust me." FAL grabs my hands. "You'll look stunning."

I don't want to look stunning, I want to go home. Especially since I can already see that the new dress has a drop to show the entire cleavage. I have enough people staring at me…

Regardless, I shrug off the shoulders of my normal bra and start to pull it off, mildly self conscious of all the other people in the room. Of course, nobody's paying me any attention as they're all busy with their own things, but I still feel like I have dozens of eyes on me as I bare my chest in what feels like a public space.

Soon though, I get the new garment on, then the dress on over top of the bra. FAL tugs on the hem and shoulders, quietly straightening the inky black dress in several ways before stepping right in front of me and pulling out a roll of tape.

When I open my mouth to question it, she just says "Tape to keep you from exposing yourself."

The tape does indeed stick the clothes to my skin. It's a weird feeling, but at least the dress does feel less likely to fall off as I'm walking up and down the runway.

"H-hey, FAL?"

"Lili."

"Right, Lili." I lick my lips and glance at a few others near us. "Do I have to do poses on the stage?"

"Oui." She stops fussing over my clothes to stand in front of me. "Do you have any posters of women posing in your room?"

"I'm not a teenage boy."

"No, but you were once upon a time." She purses her lips. "No matter, we can find you a few poses to practice. Do you know how to walk?"

I stare at her for a few seconds. "...Duh?"

"I mean, walk. You can't just stroll down a runway."

"Then, maybe I don't" I pull out my phone. "Is it something I can look up?"

"Oui. Here, let me help you."

I once more fiddle with the heel strap of the short black kitten heel shoes that FAL had pulled out of seemingly nowhere. Normally that'd be hyperbole, but since the shoes seem to eat light the same way most of the dress I'm wearing does, I watched her reach into a bag and I would have sworn it was empty before the shoes emerged.

Regardless, despite the shoes fitting almost perfectly, I still feel a bit uncomfortable in them.

It doesn't help that I'm currently eighth in line to go out on stage, and every part of my body wants me to just turn around, yank off the heels and bolt. Regardless of how I still don't exactly feel comfortable in my own skin completely, going out on stage has always been a fear of mine. I don't do well in front of a crowd, and now I have to do this in front of thousands of strangers all staring at my body.

I once more swallow the saliva building in my throat. I'm seventh in line now.

"Relax, mon Chère!" Five-seveN bumps my shoulder with hers. She's directly ahead of me in the queue, and her carbon fiber ribbon wetsuit has been augmented by a sash of the purest white with red stitching in what appears to be a made up language. "You may follow my example, if you forget what to do."

"Thanks Adeline." I give her a weak smile in return.

"Besides." She slowly bares all of her teeth. "Every eye in the house will be too busy looking at my own beautiful form that it's unlikely anyone will even notice you."

"Gee, thanks." I roll my eyes.

"You are, of course, welcome."

I shake my head, but I can feel my nerves loosening just a bit.

Then, Five-seveN turns around and with a wink steps out into the blinding lights of the stage.

Ah, I'm next.

Aaaaand there's the nerves back.

I look at the person in charge of releasing us as he looks down at his watch, fingers lifting to count down as my turn comes.

Five. Four. Three. Two.

I take a deep breath, and step into the light.

My eyes don't have time to adjust as I focus on putting one foot in front of the other, keeping my hips straight, head straight, arms back, all while trying not to twist my goddamn ankle. I just keep taking one step at a time, barely registering the world around me as I focus completely on moving in the heels I so desperately wanted off my feet.

This lasts until I suddenly realize I just passed Five-seveN on her return trip, meaning I'm almost at the part where I need to pose and turn around.

The realization comes with the sudden awareness of my surrounds once more.

Thousands of eyes.

Not only people here, but anyone watching along via the multitude of cameras dotted along the event. No matter where I look, a mechanical eye is there to project my face onto an untold number of screens.

As I reach the end and my steps come to a stop, my mind draws a complete blank.

I know I need to be doing something, but…

Everyone is staring at me.

Staring at my boobs.

Staring at my legs.

My arms unconsciously start to creep up to cover myself, though I have just enough presence of mind to force them back.

What expression do I have on my face? I entered the stage with a smile, but I can't feel my face.

I have to get out of here. I have to run, to hide in a corner where nobody can see me-

"Alex!"

The word follows a loud whistle, and my eyes reflexively seek out the owner of said voice.

Bright red eyes, even in the darkness of the crowd. Light brown hair tied up in two small puffs that almost resemble the ears of a small rodent. Cheeks pink as some of the attention is inevitably drawn her way at her exclamation.

P90, or Chloe depending on who's asking.

My girlfriend.

She blows me a kiss as she sees me looking at her, and out of habit I return the gesture.

The sound of hundreds of DSLRs clicking away pulls me right back to reality, but suddenly, I can feel my face once more and I can maintain my smile. I finish off the one pose that FAL had insisted I strike, then turn around and head back off the stage.

When I make it back behind the curtain, I breathe a sigh of relief. I didn't know P90 was going to be here. Hell, I didn't think she would show up even if she was paid to. She's too much of a tomboy normally to care about fashion.

I look down at myself, noting how my legs are trembling from adrenaline for the first time.

That sucked.

It sucked, but… well, I'm kinda glad P90 got to see me all prettied up by Five-seveN and FAL. This is probably the prettiest I've ever been, and if she didn't see it I would honestly hate it.

"Thank god that's over."

"Non." Five-seveN grabs my arm from where she was waiting in the wings. "I told you you had three outfits, yes?"

"...Fuck."

After five more changes (I was also part of the group that FAL was dressed for, a weird 1970's garden themed group) I found myself back in the almost impossibly black dress in a penthouse suite of a hotel only a few blocks from the venue.

"Cheers!"

I raise my glass along with Five-seveN, FAL, and one other. Monsieur Rafale, the one who designed the half dozen dresses that Five-seveN and I had worn during the show, as well as about two dozen others for the other models.

I asked FAL how one guy managed to make thirty-five odd dresses all by himself, and she had told me that he didn't. He's got lots of apprentices he can, ahem, 'borrow' from. Makes me feel kind of icky, but for now I'll stomach it.

After the show, Monsieur Rafale had approached us in all his rotund glory and invited us to his penthouse for a celebration of a successful show. Five-seveN had agreed readily even as I was trying to shake my head no, and as such we're currently sitting in the living room with plates of appetizers and multiple bottles of champagne just ready to go.

We all down our glasses, and I grimace against the bubbles in the drink.

"Ah, I'm so glad you ladies accepted my invitation." Monsieur Rafale sets his glass down just to lift the bottle back up and pour himself another glass. "You see, I was afraid I'd spend yet another lonely evening by myself."

"No, that can't be!" FAL croons. "A man so handsome as yourself shouldn't ever be alone, I would think!"

I have a hard time keeping my face straight as FAL obviously butters him up, but I have no idea what's going on so instead of trying to figure it out I just grab another bottle of the champagne and pour myself another glass so I have something to occupy my mouth with.

"You flatterer." Monsieur Rafale chuckles. "Alas, while I may be popular, I find that the company that comes with my position is rather dull. I'd much rather spend my time with lovely ladies such as yourselves."

"Of course, Monsieur." Five-seveN slides a bit closer to the man on the couch. "Your show went off without a hitch as well, so it would be a shame to celebrate all on your lonesome."

"It did indeed go well." He eyes the rest of the opulent room through the glass full of alcohol in his hand. "I was right to hire you. I must admit, I didn't think that you could hire mercenaries for jobs like this, but I'm glad to find out I can."

"Mercenaries do all sorts of jobs." Five-seveN says as FAL leans over to grab something off one of the plates, his eyes follow the way her body moves under her loose dress hungrily. "We provide security, build secure buildings, ferry sensitive items, assassinate targets… oh, and now I can say we do fashion shows."

He raises his glass to hers. "I'll drink to that." Once he's once more drained his glass, he continues. "Assassinations, huh?"

FAL elbows me subtly and gestures to the man's glass and mimes pouring something. Reluctantly, I stand up and kneel down beside the low table to carefully pour some more of the drink.

"Sadly, sometimes our services are required to get rid of problems." Five-seveN shrugs like it's not worth mentioning. "If you require our services again, I can of course get you a quote."

"Tempting, but we're not here to talk business tonight." He takes the drink I offer him with a grin. "Tonight we get wasted!"

For the next hour or so, the champagne flows freely into the stomachs of two people and two dolls, and once one plate of food is cleared, another arrives by steward to keep the snacks coming as well.

While I know that the dolls are perfectly capable of working despite the alcohol in their systems, I fear that the amount I've consumed- which is much less than any of the other three, mind you- is too much for my body to handle.

FAL is in the middle of talking about some fashion show or another I've never heard of when I try to stand up to go to the toilet.

I say 'try' because as I get one foot under myself, my ankle rolls in the heels I had neglected to take off and I stumble sideways, my addled brain not fast enough to get my arms out to catch myself.

"Whoa there." A big arms juts out, grabbing me and pulling me close to his large belly. "You alright?"

"Y-yeah, thanks." I nod. "Maybe I should take the heels off."

"Maybe you should." He agrees with a short laugh. "Maybe take off a bit more while you're at it too!"

"...Huh?"

"Aw, come on baby." His hand reaches around and grabs my left breast, giving it a squeeze. "Let's have a little fun!"

For a second, nothing makes any sense.

Then, my brain finally snaps into gear.

"LET ME GO!"

Five-seveN, who was pretending to be passed out drunk, suddenly snaps upright, her hand disappearing into her purse only to pull out her namesake.

FAL pulls her kukri out from the folds of her overcomplicated dress, brandinging the tool as she leaps over the couch to confront the creep currently holding onto me.

"Jesus, lady!" He growls. "Calm the fuck down! We're just going to have a bit of harmless fun, no need to get so upset!"

…Has he not noticed the firearm Five-seveN is holding and the Kukri?

My eyes flick wildly back and forth, trying to find something to get him to let go, but the only thing I see is one of the doors open to the steward pushing in a cart of fresh fruit.

For a second, his eyes catch mine, and then he looks down.

Ah.

"Let her go!" FAL commands, and Monsieur Rafale finally looks up from where he's still fucking groping me to see the oversized blade and gun pointed his way.

"Wh- the hell is wrong with you girls?" He snarls. "What do you think I paid you those exorbitant fees for? There's no way getting three mildly attractive women to wear some dumb clothes is worth that pile of credits I spent. Obviously, I'm owed some extra, you know what I'm saying?"

"No, I don't think I do." Five-seveN vaults over the couch as well as Rafale starts to drag me back away from the two. "Again, let her go."

"Or what?" He lets go of my chest and reaches down to his beltline, where he draws his own sidearm. Instead of pointing it at either of the dolls, the slightly warmed steel presses into my temple. "God, fucking females always think they're such hot shit, but when you try to get what you're owed out of them, they always fucking freak out."

"Let. Her. Go." FAL bends her knees slightly, arms splayed out slightly to provide better balance.

"Make me!" He snarls. "I'll fucking- OW!"

He jerks his leg up into the air, and Fel loses grip on his achille's tendon, spinning into the air, paws scrabbling to find purchase in the air.

Suddenly, the steward dumps the food off the tray he's holding and tosses it like a frisbee, soaring right at Rafale and I. He is forced to dodge the incoming projectile, the metal disk cleaning loudly off of the wall.

Between the two sudden assaults, Rafale's grip loosens just enough for me to drop out of his grasp.

"FUCKING BITCH!"

FAL leaps forward, kukri coming around in an arc as she tries to cut at the surprisingly agile man. He must be used to dodging blows in melee combat, or else he's incredibly lucky. FAL swings again and he once more swiftly dodges out of the way. Nope, not luck.

The steward starts to stride over toward us, his hand going into his vest for something, probably a weapon. As he approaches, Five-seveN switches her target from Rafale to the unknown entity.

I try to get back to my feet from where I dropped out of Rafale's grasp, but once more I collapse when I don't land on the heel correctly. Ignoring the pain in my ankles, I turn around to see that the overweight man has grabbed one of the ornamental swords held in the decorate suits of armor, and is attempting to swing it.

I say attempting, because it's obviously too heavy to control, and his wild swings start to hack up the walls and shatter a pot containing a small tree.

FAL retreats under the wild swinging, her own blade raised to try to deflect any blows that manage to come close.

I kick at the heels, finally getting one of them off before reaching down and unfastening the other. My dress rides up slightly under all of my movements-

A black strap appears around my thigh, and for a second the booze keeps me from identifying the object.

Oh right, I came armed.

I pull the gun out, immediately clicking off the safety with my thumb and aiming it in Rafale's general direction.

My first shot sails past his head, and the second pings off the sword, forcing him to drop it with a yelp.

My third shot burrows straight into his skull and sends him straight to hell.

I pant as the adrenaline starts to wear off, my muddled thoughts telling me I've forgotten something.

"Oh shit." the steward says, in a voice I recognize even through my haze.

"Chloe?!"

The steward's form shifts and melts away as P90 reveals herself. "Alex, we need to get out of here!"

I blink. "What-"

An alarm starts to blare, almost deafening even in the large room.

"Security teams will be on us in minutes." Five-seveN lowers her gun from P90's form. "Thanks for the assist, P90."

"Next time you rope my Alex into a mission, please keep me informed." P90 walks over to me and scoops me up in a princess carry. "But, you're welcome."

"I wanted to do this without alerting the authorities." FAL grouses, looking around at the mess we managed to make in a single short minute. "Oh well. Who's up for a little vent crawling?"

Once safety back home, Chloe and I sit on the couch, watching the news. It's still covering the mysterious assassination of Rafale Lambert.

"-any information leading to the arrests of these perpetrators-"

Chloe mutes the TV.

"Those sketches don't even look like us." I mutter.

"No shit, I was making sure to keep us all disguised." She rolls her eyes. "Don't worry, I covered our tracks."

I snuggle into her side a bit more. The metal ribs of her endoskeleton are hard and unyielding, yet still somehow comforting.

"Still, what were those two thinking?" She mutters as if to herself. "You're retired."

"Well, as retired as you get without being off the roster." I shrug. "I'm still technically a G and K employee."

"Sure, but you're not supposed to be getting into danger. That was the deal!"

"Yeah." I sigh. "But, I'm okay."

"You almost weren't." Chloe looks down at me. "You need to be more careful."

"Sorry."

She presses a finger to my nose. "On a lighter topic-" she lifts the remote and pauses the TV. "Look at that."

I look up to the TV and see myself, standing on stage, blowing a kiss out to the audience in a black dress that seems to eat at the light shining down on me.

Holy crap, with my expression that happy-

"You looked absolutely stunning out there, Alex."

"A-ah, t-t-thanks."

She ruffles my hair. "Good thing you got to keep the dress, huh? You can wear it on our next date."

"I suppose. It's a little short though."

"I like it that way." She grins. Her hand gently guides my face up towards hers as she drops her own face down to meet mine.

I return her kiss, letting the stress of the day fade into the background as I soak in the here and now.

Once we break apart, an idle thought crosses my head.

"Hey, why did FAL say she needed me for a few days if this assassination job only took a single day?"

"Duh." Chloe points to the TV, where more shots from the fashion show continue. "You're on stage all five days."

"...WHAT?!"