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Bobbi lifted the cute pink gift bag and said,
"Could you open the door for me? I want to leave it inside his place—give him a surprise."
"This…" Gary hesitated.
"Pretty please?" Bobbi pouted.
Lowering his voice mysteriously, Gary said,
"You know he keeps a cat in there."
"I know. A tabby named Katie. You're not going to tell me this little kitty is so naughty it'll destroy the surprise, right? I actually want to say hi to Katie."
Gary stared at her up and down with an odd expression. After a long moment, he sighed in defeat.
"Forget it. No matter how much I warn you, you probably won't listen. I'll open the door and let you sneak a look at Katie first. After that, you decide for yourself."
Though she didn't understand Gary's strange behavior, Bobbi was secretly pleased.
As long as she got inside, she could plant the bugs—Fury's assignment would be done.
This cross-dressing, overly-friendly landlord they had used as a "fake relative" was surprisingly kind.
Gary went into his own apartment to get his spare keys, then beckoned.
"Come on."
They walked up the stairs together.
Unlike most low-income apartment buildings where the stairwells and hallways were filthy, Gary's building was spotless.
He screened tenants carefully, and everyone cooperated in keeping the place clean.
Henry's unit was on the third floor at the far end of the hall, a corner room.
On the door hung a hand-painted wooden plaque of an adorable cartoon cat standing upright like a tiny bear, making a mock "threatening" pose.
Below it, in childish letters, were the words: Bad Meow Inside.
Looking harmless as could be.
But Gary didn't just walk in.
First he pressed his ear against the door, listening.
Only after a long, nervous pause did he insert the key, turning it slowly.
He cracked the door open—just a sliver—peering carefully into the apartment, checking and rechecking what he could see from that angle.
He didn't see the creature he was looking for, so he nudged the door open just a bit more.
Bobbi, watching from behind, was losing patience.
The man was fussing more than she did—and she was the actual woman here.
So she simply shoved the door wide open.
The reason Gary hadn't spotted the yellow-furred, black-striped "cat" was because of the angle.
Right inside the entrance, with its back to the door, sat a beast the size of a single-seat sofa.
Its massive paw was pinning the spherical robot BB to the floor.
The sound of the door startled it.
Katie turned its huge head—massive copper-bell eyes locking onto the two intruders.
It opened its jaws wide and unleashed a full tiger roar—
Then lunged straight for the doorway.
:: New friend. ::
Gary collapsed backward, scrambling until he hit the far wall of the hall, eyes bulging in horror.
Bobbi, to her credit as an agent-in-training, didn't freeze.
She slammed the door shut and clung to the handle with all her strength—forgetting in her panic that the creature inside wasn't human and didn't know how to turn doorknobs anyway.
For a moment she thought it was over—that what she had seen was just a hallucination.
Then—WHAM!—a thunderous impact struck the other side of the door.
Both their hearts nearly punched out of their ribcages.
Bobbi could swear she heard another tiger roar behind the door.
No longer daring to stand with her back to it, she fled across the hall to huddle beside the ostrich-like Gary, who was cradling his head with both arms.
"That was Katie?"
"Y-yes…"
"A tabby?"
"Yes…"
"A five- or six-hundred-pound cat?! Are you serious!?" Bobbi shrieked.
"N-no! I refuse to admit my tenant is keeping a tiger in my building!"
Gary was deep in denial now—self-hypnosis to cope with terror.
Before Bobbi could say more, another heavy slam struck the door.
Adrenaline surged—they both bolted down the stairs like their lives depended on it.
Neither stopped running until they burst out of the apartment building and staggered onto the sidewalk, breathless and shaking.
Bobbi Morse would someday become a top-tier agent.
But right now, she was still just a college student who had seen very little real danger.
That moment of eye contact with Katie was, without exaggeration, the first time in her life she truly believed she might die.
She glanced at Gary—who looked just as pale and shaken.
"Gary… pets are allowed in your building?"
Face twisted in misery, Gary said,
"They're technically banned. But as long as a tenant doesn't cause trouble, I'll make exceptions.
But now? I don't dare say no…"
His legs were still trembling.
"That's why I wanted you to give me the gift so I could pass it on. Now you understand," he said with a sickly smile.
"…I get it," Bobbi whispered, heart still racing.
Damn it. I can't beat that 'cat.'
She didn't even have the courage to try.
If they fought, the one getting torn into pieces would definitely be her.
"So Henry keeps a tigress in his apartment?" Bobbi asked.
Gary said, "No, I heard it's male."
"A male tiger? Named Katie?" Bobbi's voice cracked.
"Name it whatever you want. Washington or Bush, Victoria or Joan of Arc—whatever.
Doesn't matter."
"Right…" Bobbi looked down at the gift bag—thank god it wasn't left inside.
She handed it to Gary.
"Please give this to Henry. I have to catch my flight."
Gary forced a brittle smile as he took it.
"Shame you couldn't give it to him personally. He could've driven you to the airport."
"Yeah. A shame…" she echoed, without meaning a word of it.
She took a few deep breaths to steady her nerves.
"Alright, Gary—I'm heading out."
"Take care. Safe travels."
"Bye."
Bobbi walked alone toward the street to hail a cab to the airport.
While waiting, she pulled out her burner and called Nick Fury.
The moment he picked up, she said—
"Mission failed."
"You couldn't get the landlord to open the door?" Fury asked.
"No. The target keeps a tiger in his apartment. I wasn't going in there."
"…According to the file, he keeps a tabby named 'Katie.'"
"That's Katie.
Screw your tabby—it's a tiger. Five or six hundred pounds. It could eat me in one bite."
Fury wanted to curse, but held himself back.
Who the hell kept a tiger at home!?
—No, wait. He's a mutant. Bullets bounce off him.
Of course he could keep a tiger—if he could afford the meat.
Utterly defeated, Fury squeezed out:
"…Understood."
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