This lovely *slapped* one-shot features Tabitha and Shelly from Team Mamga and Team Aqua! Whoo! I started liking these two after reading a one-shot for them on Serebii Forums by a mod called Skiyomi. She has an account here, and though I'm not exactly sure of her pen name, I think it's Llybian Minamino. I think. Either way, this is dedicated to her for being epic like that.

Honestly, I love this. I love Tabitha and Shelly and Mandy (I made her up, but I think she's kinda cool). And my beta likes it, so I must be doing something right. xD

Enjoy! :D
-RD :)

Enigma

She was a mystery. He found that attractive.

.x.x.x.

He doesn't recognize her at first.

Yes, he's sure that he's seen her before somewhere, but he can't place where, and it's driving him a little bit crazy because he knows for a fact that he knows her.

Or does he?

He leans forward and takes a sip of his water. No alcohol for him tonight; he doesn't need anything clouding his judgment or any distractions.

She's already enough of a problem.

"Tabitha," hisses his associate, a brown-haired girl named Mandy. "Focus on the mission. What are you looking at, anyway?"

"Nothing," he mumbles in response, half of him wanting to smack the girl for speaking in such a way to her superior. But she is right. He needs to focus, and he can't.

The mystery woman is bothering him too much.

Mandy adjusts her glasses and scoots toward him to try to see what in the world he's looking at. She only stops when Tabitha sends her a stone-cold glare. She sits back down properly and tries to busy herself with her ponytail.

Tabitha reaches up and runs a hand through his purple hair. He knows this woman. He knows he does. She's sitting about ten feet away at a table by herself. She's beautiful, he thinks, and she's got enough curly red hair to start her own wig store.

And Tabitha knows her.

Mandy seems to be growing impatient as she drums her fingers on the counter and waits for their contact to show up.

"Idiot's an hour late," she grumbles, looking at the time on her cell phone. "Doesn't he know who he's dealing with? This is Team Magma!"

"Don't say that out loud, stupid," Tabitha snaps at her. When she frowns at him, he adds, "We can't have anyone knowing who we are."

"I know," she sighs. "Undercover mission and all that jazz." Tabitha nods slowly and turns his gaze back to the redhead dining alone. He gets this feeling when he looks at her. He's getting the sense she's something bad and he should get away from her as quickly as possible.

But that makes her all the more interesting.

Tabitha begins to note things about her: how she twirls her fork in her pasta before putting it in her mouth, how she downs her drink in two large swigs, and how her eyes dart back and forth as if everyone else in the restaurant is an enemy of hers. He is amazed that she hasn't sent him a cold glare yet; he and Mandy seem to be the only people she isn't paying much attention to.

"We must be rather well disguised," Tabitha muses to himself. "She's so suspicious of everyone else. She has no idea who we are." He chuckles softly, causing Mandy to send a confused glance in his direction.

Just as he declares the redhead to be the most amusing thing he's seen all night, she stands up to leave. She picks up her purse, walks to the bar where he's sitting, and leaves a small wad of cash with a waiter, who counts it and nods in approval.

She turns to the side and, her eyes catching Tabitha's, gives him a small smile. He tries to smile back, but it feels a bit forced. The woman then walks out the door into the October night, and he stares at the piece of glass for about ten seconds before making a decision.

Tabitha scoots his stool back and walks away from the bar. He makes his way for the door, ignoring Mandy's shouts of protest, and steps out into the cold.

"Hey," he calls after her. The redhead stiffens before turning around, a smirk on her face.

"Yes?"

"Do I… know you?"

She laughs. It's a wonderful sound, but Tabitha can't help but feel irritated that she's amused by this.

"Maybe you do. Maybe you don't." His brows furrow in annoyance. She's just playing with him now.

"You seem familiar," Tabitha says as she takes a few steps closer to him. "I feel like I should know you."

"Do you now?" she asks playfully, raising a eyebrow. Their faces are only half a foot apart now, and Tabitha is trying desperately to keep composed. "Maybe this will jog your memory." She places a soft hand on his face, and a shiver runs down his spine.

It's not the cold.

She leans in and Tabitha closes his eyes and waits.

But the kiss never comes.

What does come is a knee to his stomach, causing him to double over in pain.

"Ah," he thinks. "That's who she is." He crumbles to the ground, clutching his stomach as he lies down on the pavement. His vision is a little blurry, and it almost looks like there are two of her.

"Remember now?"

"Shelly…" he grunts out. There are three of her now, and they're beginning to spin.

"You Magma trash are weak," Shelly says, giving her red locks a flip. "Really, Tabitha. You'd think you'd remember the face of one of your worst enemies. But I guess that's what sets Team Magma and Team Aqua apart." She whirls around and walks off, leaving Tabitha to watch her brown boots slowly disappear from sight.

She's right, he thinks; he is weak.

But maybe, just maybe, that's not so bad.