Shadow got out of the car and stretched, trying to look casual in case anyone was surveilling them. Not that she didn't need to stretch after having her tail pinned against the seat and her wings folded uncomfortably during the drive to the park, but still.

The guy at the picnic table noticed her and waved. The pool of light from a nearby lamp was just enough to give her a general idea of his appearance -- around her age, maybe a year or two younger, with shoulder-length, dusty blond hair. He wore cargo pants and a Doctor Who T-shirt. She waved back and approached him.

"Right on time," he said.

"I try." She stopped at the table and cocked her head. He wasn't the kind of guy she'd expected -- someone who worked for Evolved Genetics, International and claimed to have info on something naughty the corporation was up to.

On the other hand, the Justice Foundation had a thirteen-year-old hacker working in its office and Shadow was quite young, herself, so maybe such things were relative.

"Have a seat." Callahan motioned at the bench and a pair of paper cups filled with coffee and covered with plastic lids. "I brought mochas. And don't worry, I ordered low-caf so it won't keep us up all night."

"Queen to Queen's level three," she said without having the slightest idea what the hell it meant. It was the phrase Machiko had told her to use to verify that this was, in fact, Newton Callahan.

He lit up the whole park with a brilliant grin. "Queen to King's level one. Always glad to meet a fellow dork."

Okay … if you say so. She nodded at her car. "Ready to go?"

He raised both eyebrows, shifted nervously, stuttered for a moment, and then pointed at the cups again.

"What's the hurry? Oh, wait, uh, do you not like coffee? Or mocha, specifically? I thought …"

"Oh, yeah, I like coffee, especially mocha. I just …" Huh. Okay. Maybe he's planning to just tell me what he knows. Or he's trying to keep me here for some other reason. Maybe to pump me for information or set me up for something else. She shrugged and sat beside him. Guess I can play along for now and see what happens.

He picked up one of the cups and handed it to her.

"Thanks."

He smiled. "It's still a little hot, so be careful."

She nodded, lifted the lid, and sniffed. It smelled like a normal mocha, no poisons or drugs as far as her super-sensitive nose could determine. In fact, it was the exact mixture she'd picked up countless times from a coffee stand a couple of blocks down the street. She took a cautious sip. Not bad at all.

He glanced around as if trying to find something to talk about. She decided to offer some reassuring words on the assumption that he was legit and was just worried about repercussions from the info he was about to hand off.

"No need to be nervous. You're gonna be just fine." She smiled. "I'll take good care of you."

A surprised look crossed his face, then he smiled back and his face turned red as he continued looking around. Finally, his gaze landed on her car. "That's a sweet ride. Looks older, but it's in really good condition."

"Yeah, the previous owner kept it in really good shape."

"You have wings, but you drove here in a car?"

Well, the car is to take you to the safe house because you don't have wings. She arched a brow ridge, shrugged, and decided to go along with it.

"I've always liked cars. It's not exactly comfortable, stuffing my wings and tail in there, but I don't mind too much if the car's fun to drive."

"Fair enough." He took another slow sip.

Huh. Shadow pulled her left leg up and rested her ankle across her right leg, then put her right hand on her calf while drinking a bit more of her mocha.

Callahan got that nervous look on his face again, moved his hand as if uncertain what to do with the cup, and then placed it on the table. The nervousness faded and was replaced by a goofy grin as he suddenly reached out, gently grasped her ankle, and tickled the bottom of her foot.

″Eep!" She lunged away and tried to jerk her foot out of his grasp. He tightened his grip a little, laughed, and tickled harder. She twisted and pulled her leg away again, noticed she'd almost tipped the cup over, and hurried to put it on the table before she spilled it. Callahan held on to her ankle, laughed again, and went after her foot with even more vigor.

What in the hell? Shadow spun and whipped her tail around. The end of it slapped across Callahan's face and, when she turned back to him, she found him sliding off the end of the bench. He landed on his ass, grunted, and shook his head as if to clear a sudden daze. He rubbed his hand over his cheek and stared at her with wide eyes.

"Sorry! I'm sorry! I thought -- I didn't mean to …"

She gave him an exasperated stare and held one hand up as if to say, "Seriously?"

"I didn't mean to startle you. It's just … well, Darius said you liked to be tickled." Callahan's face turned red again as he got back on the bench and picked up his mocha with a trembling hand.

Who the hell is Darius? She shrugged, sat, and watched Callahan from the corner of her eye, staying ready to feed him his own teeth if he tried to grab her again. New guy, maybe? Machiko had brought on quite a few new support personnel recently, so maybe this Darius guy was the one who'd arranged the pickup.

But if he was, then why the hell would he tell Callahan that Shadow liked to be tickled?

What kind of game is Darius playing, anyway? A prank, maybe?

"Sorry," he muttered. "It's kinda dark here, so I couldn't quite read your expression. All I can really see is your glowing eyes and your teeth. So it looked like you were smiling. I thought you were enjoying it."

"Okay, people have had trouble seeing my face in the dark before. My skin barely reflects any light. It seems like something the bioengineering corporations would've used for their combat units, but I was designed for a … different use." She shrugged again and motioned at her chest. "But next time you want to grope me, my tits are up here."

He stared wide-eyed at her and blushed again, and she tried not to wince.

Why did I say that? I mean, he's cute. Really cute. But this is business. I need to keep my brain-mouth filter in place for once in my goddamn life.

He chuckled and averted his eyes. "I'd have trouble seeing those in the dark, too, if you weren't wearing that vest." He motioned at it. "Huh. Is that a tactical vest?"

"It's modeled after one, but it's made for civilians, hence the designer colors, muted though they are. And a real tactical vest wouldn't show this much cleavage. I wear stuff like this because I like having a lot of pockets and pouches and whatnot. And the zippers add to the 'cool' factor." She grinned and motioned at her cargo shorts. "You can never have too many pockets."

"I feel the same way. Looks like we're gonna get along famously."

Whatever you say, buddy. "Well, don't grab me again without warning me first and you'll be just fine." She tossed him a lopsided grin.

"I won't, I promise."

She picked up her mocha and took a longer drink to give the awkward moment a little more time to pass. Finally, she nodded toward her car again.

"About ready to get out of here?"

"I've never done this before," Callahan said, staring at the ground and tapping a finger on the side of his cup. "And, uh, I haven't really … um, had any … experience with one of you. Engineered people, I mean."

What does that have to do with this?

"I mean, yeah. Sure. We can go to … uh, your place, if you want."

Shadow flicked another confused glance at him, then shrugged it off. He could be a mental case, or maybe just not too bright. Or, possibly, an agent from EGI trying to interrogate her but was really, really bad at it. Either way, she could handle it.

"Okay, let's get going." She finished her mocha, found a trash can and tossed the cup into it, and smiled.

About time.