The trio rode for several quiet minutes. Their car was shot up, evident by the wind blowing through the shattered windows, and destruction lay in their wake. Sirens were already all over, a cop car even flew past them. Sunset was too emotionally exhausted to even care why they weren't pulling them over. Instead, she lay in the backseat and breathed in slowly but surely. It was a far cry from what it was moments before. The screeching of tires, the pounding in her head, the...dead.

Sunset's throat convulsed and she slapped a hand over her mouth and continued to breath intentionally. It helped only slightly. An unpleasant tang floated from the back of her throat which didn't help at all. To distract herself from it all, she decided to study the roof of the car. It was clean. Gray and soft, like a carpet. The seams were done well and the structural support looked solid as well. Despite all the gunfire and shattered glass, the inside was basically intact. It intrigued Sunset, there must be some special alloy or what have you enforcing the car. Maybe the CIA aren't so useless after all.

Dry smiled coldly and lifted the pistol with ease.

Sunset gagged yet again and just like the last time, she forced the bile back down. This was getting annoying. She shuffled so her face faced the seat and away from the front where that guy was sitting. It eased her mind slightly, the dull color of the seat. The rough but still comfortable fabric. The humming of the car's engine and the occasional bumps as the tires went over cracks. Her eyelids felt heavy. The mental exhaustion was catching up to her, not to mention the adrenaline crashing down. She chuckled drowsily, then welcomed the darkness.

***

The car stopped. Sunset blinked her eyes open. Her uneasiness had passed, leaving her just groggy. With a creaky heave, she sat up and then proceeded to unlatch the door. Fresh air flooded in. Then her brain caught up and she quickly slammed the door shut again, her eyes wide as she scanned their surroundings. Parking lot. Park. Empty car. Picnic table. Big house on hill. City skyline behind.

Her panic eased and Sunset slumped back into her seat. A groan bubbled up from her throat. She lay there for a solid minute, maybe two. A few more calming breaths then a silent countdown. She had to do that several more times before she willed her body into moving. She thrust herself out of the car before she could change her mind. She instantly regretted it as the world swam beneath her supposed solid footing.

"Sunset! Over here!" Sunset lifted her head if only just to keep composure and took a shaky step forward, then another, and another. Soon enough, her vision cleared and the headache faded. Sunset continued forward like nothing had happened. Next to one of the picnic tables sat Dry Clean and Shift Stick, the two of them munching away. Sunset's stomach growled. She sighed and made her way over.

"What do you have?" Priorities. In front of them lay a huge pile of plastic bags filled with things.

"Potatoes." Shift muttered, her hand deep in a chip bag.

"I see." Sunset gestured and Dry complied with a fresh new bag. "Hmm, BQ flavoured. Not bad." She munched away. Good sustenance.

There was an awkward silence.

"Alright boss, this is clearly..."

"I told you not to call me boss."

"You told Shift that, not me."

"I do need it from you, either, Dry."

"Well, excuuuse me."

"You're excused." Dry sighed at her snark. Sunset shrugged, she was born this way.

"Right, let's try this again. Hi, my name is Dry Clean, one of the best operatives the CIA has. I'm so good that I'm kept off the books, hence why I'm here helping you."

"Uh huh. Disguises and whatnot." Sunset crunched her way through a couple more handfuls.

"I'm serious! I've been tasked to help you in order to retrieve the disc and..." Dry started but was interrupted by a very loud crunch and a very bored looking Sunset. "You done?"

"No." Sunset crunched on a couple more chips then was despondent by the fact her bag was now empty. Being hungry is such a pain sometimes. "You may continue now."

"I am to help you retrieve the disc as my intel is not on that disc. Like I said earlier, I am great at disguises, acting, infiltrating, and what have you." Dry grinned drily, as if trying to show how great he was without trying to seem like he was bragging. He totally was bragging.

"Yada yada. Stuff I already know." Sunset patted him on the shoulder before reaching over and snatching another bag of chips. Sour cream and herbs. Delicious stuff. "Remember that first time we met? What did I say to you? 'You really need to get better at this?' Heh, I was talking about your acting skills. Sorry about that, Dry."

Dry stared at her, mouth open and silent.

A moment of silence.

Then Shift burst out laughing, slapping her hand on the table. She started wheezing after a while, then immediately flowed back into laughing. It soon turned into her gasping for breath, but the mirth never left her face. Sunset wordlessly passed her a bottle of water that just so happened to be with the various bags of chips. She nodded gratefully and chugged a decent amount before spitting it back out and choking. Sunset gave her a good whack on the back and Shift coughed out the last bits of the water and chip combo.

"Thanks."

"No problem." Sunset grinned at the still silent Dry. "Say, how long do you think he'll be like that?"

"Oh, I wouldn't know. There are rumors that he's the oldest agent at CIA. Been in the field too many to count and has taken down enough marks to fill an entire prison." Shift chuckled. "I've never seen him so rattled. You weren't kidding about your knack for observation. What gave him away?"

"His comfort. His knowledge. The overall situation, I suppose." Sunset chuckled lightly. "I mean, come on, a supposed rookie breaks into your apartment three floors up, but the doors are locked and the windows are still closed. He's obviously comfortable with situations like that, because there is not film of sweat around his brow or neck. His walk was full of certainty and purpose. I wasn't all that certain of course, but as the night continued on and I awoke more, the more obvious he seemed. His blasé attitude that would then clash with a weird, almost childish attitude. Then there were moments where a hint of cleverness would shine through. Ah, there were a few more things, but I feel like chips." Sunset stuffed her mouth.

"I was really that obvious?"

"Oh lookie here, Dry's out of his coma." Shift snickered once before nursing her bottle of water. Seems her throat still felt a bit off.

Sunset nodded. Dry drooped. She patted his shoulder and then went back to snacking.

"We're going to the mansion after this, right?"

"After the next bag."

Author's Note

After the next bag