A Thousand More...
By Miss Ang
(Very Special Thanks to JE Zison of www.disneywriter.com)
(Brand
New Day © Sting)
How
many lonely, sleepless nights?
How many lies, how many fights?
And why would you want to
put yourself through all that, again?
Gabriel rubbed at her eyes as she forced herself to stare at the computer monitor for just one more minute. One last paragraph, brain. Please. I need to finish this report. She yawned cavernously as she typed a salutation, then printed the document she'd been laboring over all night. Rolling it up and placing it in a vacuum tube beside the desk, she punched a blue button and sent it zipping through FOWL Headquarters to High Command ... wherever they were when they weren't threatening - advising, Gabriel corrected herself - their employees.
"Finally," she mumbled, pushing in her office chair and stumbling through her door, an empty mug of coffee in hand. Gotta bring this mug back to the break room. As she wandered down the hall, she realized that a crack of light was still seeping from beneath one of the employees' doors. She didn't bother to figure out whose door it was, plodding right past it towards the room at the end of the hall. Gabriel was so tired that she didn't even hear it creak open behind her.
"Hey," a voice called out tauntingly. "Doncha know dere's a curfew 'round here? 'Sides, stayin' up till ... geezum frickin' crowbar ... 4 AM ain't good fer ya."
"Then what are you doing up, Agent Steelbeak?" Gabriel replied drowsily.
"Wouldn't you like ta know," he winked.
"Some ditzy secretary from first floor spending the night?"
"Heck naw." He shook his head, then puffed out his chest and proclaimed authoritatively, "I'm doin' crud."
The stoic agent paused in her track to the break room. Don't you dare smile... don't! She smiled. Dammit. Just don't turn around, okay? She turned around. Ugh! Stupid body. Never listens. "What kind of ... 'crud', exactly?"
Steelbeak grinned like a chick with a new toy. "Ah! C'mere, I'll show yas." With that, he disappeared into his apartment.
Gabriel winced, then found herself reluctantly following him. "Isn't it, as you said, late?"
He handed her a tiny mug of coffee that could only have been espresso. "Drink dat."
Dear God, Gabriel thought, then shrugged and primly took a sip.
"Nononono. Down th' sucka. Keep ya up."
"What do I need to be kept up for?" She asked flatly. "I'm just seeing this thing you're doing and going to bed."
You
could be walking down the street
But who should you chance to meet
But that same ol' smile
you've been thinking 'bout all day ...
"Look!" He gestured to the coffee table, revealing masses of colored paper scraps, bottles of glue, and black paper. ".... Ahhh .... hang on." He bent down and brushed away the scraps, revealing an artfully crafted photo album. "Check dat out."
Gabriel knelt down beside the coffee table and brushed her fingers over one photo - herself, Steelbeak, and Tegwen standing at some cheezy Duckburg tourist trap. Tegwen, despite her diminuitive stature, had strained up on her tiptoes to give Gabe bunny ears, and Steelbeak sported a very large dandelion stuck beside his comb. "Why are you doing this?" She asked quietly, in awe.
"Well, I know ya can't live in the past, Agent Gabriel," he said quietly. "But it's nice ta visit once in a while."
A tiny smile winked at the edge of Gabriel's cheek as a tear slipped from the corner of her eye. "It's too bad. We can never have friendship like that again, you realize. It's gone." He placed a hand on her shoulder and she brushed it away. "Can't have that, either. Please. I ... " She let out a strained chuckle. "When all's said and done, I barely knew either of you."
You
need some time for reflection
You say, baby, wait a minute, wait a minute
Wait a minute, wait a minute
Wait a minute, wait a minute ...
Steelbeak thought about that for a moment. Then an impish twinkle lit his eye and he held out a hand. "Hey dere. Name's Steelbeak. Who're you?"
She bit her lip, forcing the giant grin inside her to trim itself down to a prim smile. "I'm Gabriel."
"Nice to meet you," he said, as they shook hands. "Where ya work?"
"Mission Evaluation Division."
"Huh, I'm Chief Agent of Mission Execution," he shrugged. "Sounds like we'll be workin' togetha quite a bit."
"Sounds like, yes." She paused. ".... Let's do this slowly."
"'Course," he nodded.
She stood. "Well, then, I have to get to sleep. It was nice meeting you."
He smiled broadly, looking even more childlike than before. "Nice meetin' you, too."
Before she could restrain herself, Gabriel leant forward and kissed him, quickly, on the beak. "Good night."
As she turned and headed for the door, Steelbeak held out a hand. "Whoa, whoa! I thought youse said slowly!"
"I did," she replied seriously. "I just had to get that out of my system. I'll see you tomorrow."
Shaking his head, Steelbeak stared after her. She's changed, arright. But some things *never* do.
I'm
the answer to your question
If you follow my suggestion
We can turn this ship around
We'll go up instead of down....
Turn the clock to zero boss
The river's wide, we'll swim across
We're starting up a brand new day
Turn the clock to zero buddy
Don't wanna be no fuddy duddy
We're thinking in a brand new way...