CAMMIE'S POV
It didn't take long before I realized that hanging far from ground level in heels wasn't a position I wanted to find myself in more missions to come. But the fact I was wearing a full length gown along with it, made the situation just a tad more difficult.
The rock wall pressed against my skin as I hid in the shadows waiting for the right time. Finding a place to support me, I slowly made my made down until the toes touched ground and i slid my body in a small of space of darkness. I felt the Napotine Patch and as one guard walked past; my hand grabbed his and pushed him against a stone pillar, pressing the patch on his head. The other guard became aware of intruders and pulled out his gun but an arm came around his neck, pushed him back and slid him into the shadows unconscious.
"Somebody took their time" the figure joked, as he came out of the shadows and his hands flew to the lock, picking it with ease.
Guess they picked Hutch I thought. Don't get me wrong. It wasn't bad having Hutch for a partner on a mission. He had a muscly frame and he was large, almost like a bodyguard. His black hair was pulled back and slick and the tux made him seemed to hide his muscles.
"How about next time you wear the dress and heels?" I said as I slipped into the room, following Hutch. I heard a slight chuckle escape his mouth but stopped abruptly.
"We got bigger problems than your clothes" Hutch said as he fully gazed upon the room and one by one, guns were pointed in our direction.
A normal sixteen year old girl would freak out. A normal girl would die, but it didn't take you Level 5 Clearance to know my life was far from normal. But that moment I didn't need to do anything because that's when everything came crashing down.
Literally.
Hutch came into action mode and already knew the spots to escape in as he surveyed the room; he grabbed my arm and flung me up in front of him as we climbed a rusty ladder on the wall. Glass came crashing down as the roof broke into a million pieces and the sound was complete chaos. Gunfire was heard and I heard an all too familiar shout as Hutch grabbed his leg painfully. I cried as a bullet entered my lower arm but I kept strong.
The helicopter that crashed into the roof was lowering down and I grabbed Hutch- which wasn't easy. His hands were slippery and full of his blood, while my arms were weak from the bullet. I jumped towards the helicopter, holding for my dear life to the ladder they put out. Hutch's hand was still locked into mine as CIA agents pushed me towards the helicopter but I felt that one slip and I screamed.
"NO!" I cried as I felt Hutch slowly slipping. I leant over the edge, knowing we were climbing higher and higher as the helicopter took off. The blood in Hutch's hand went all over mine and I grabbed his arm, trying to pull him forward. But it was that one shot that made his eye's go wide. His breath stopped and I shook my head furiously.
The life in him died and his body slipped from my hand as I tried desperately to keep him but the CIA agents held me back and I watched as my partner's body crash into the room full of assassins. Agents closed the door enclosing me into the bulletproof helicopter and my body felt ridged. I looked down at the hands, covered in Hutch's blood and I screamed.
Agents held me stable and washed the blood. My arm was bleeding intensely as the agents shouted to hurry. I was losing blood, too much blood and I felt weak and light headed as I saw blackness.
5 HOURS LATER
The first thing I noticed was white. That seemed to be the only thing in this room, the only way to describe it was small and white. I gazed at the right arm and noticed the bullet wound cleaned and tended t, leaving a distinctive red mark on my skin.
The feet had bruises, probably from the heels and the elegant gown I had worn was ripped and dirty. I sighed as I got up and noticed the loose long sleeved white v neck and jeans at the end of the bed with a note.
Director wants to see you.
- Joe
I slid the gown off and washed my face with the sink. The shirt and jeans smelled clean and new, not of blood.
The Door opened, revealing CIA HQ. Agents in suit and ties walking around like each and every one of them was the best, but something in their faces changed whenever they saw me.
Name: Cammie Morgan
Codename: Chameleon
Status: Legendary.
I hated the stares, it seemed this was the only place on Earth I was recognized my so many people. I was the Chameleon, a CIA legacy of Matthew and Rachel Morgan. Taught by the best and youngest spy hired by the CIA.
I dreaded each step. I failed the mission and lost a partner, friend. It seemed the COC was always one step ahead of the game and of me.
The slight knock opened the director's office and the first thing I noticed was the smell. Pine and fresh flowers, but it overcame with the smell of smoke. I coughed as I watched the Director laugh as he set the cigar down and patted it down on the ash tray.
"Cammie, sit" He said, pointing out the chair in front of him.
"Rachel's concerned Cammie. Not only her but Abby and Joe, we think it's best if you took a break" The director said gently
"No" I said firmly, but the director continued as if I never spoke.
"You're going to Gallagher Academy for girls, as we both know is more than just a school for the rich" the director stated.
"You can't –"I started furious and my anger rising up.
"whether or not you'll be allowed to go on missions within that time period will be Solomon's choice, I will contact you if a mission will spark your interest but Joe Solomon's approval must be met and you be tested to see if you're capable" The director said
"That is All, I'm sorry Cammie, but we all lost someone out there today" The director and waved me off to the director of the door. I stood speechless and walked out the door, shoving past the agents angrily. But someone grabbed my arm and led me to the gym.
"Alex, don't do that" I said as his face emerged from the shadows. I would say Alex was like me but he wasn't. At 17 year's old, he looked like your average teenager. Mysterious even and a huge charmer, but he was like an older brother. Looking out for me like a knight in shining armour, not that I ever needed it. His brown eyes were covered by his messy blond hair, but I didn't need to look at them to know they were full of concern.
"Cammie, we're just worried. I'm worried" He said looking into my eyes
"I'm fine" I stated and walked away
"What did the director say?" Alex asked, skilfully hiding the curiosity in his voice.
"Classified, but let's just say, I won't be here a while" I said and walked off.
"Ready?" Mum asked
"Why wouldn't I be?" I replied not so enthusiastically.
"You'll arrive with the Blackthorn boys and Cammie, don't try anything or you say bye to a mission until you graduate" Mum said, and I knew she wasn't kidding.
"Let's just do this, let me get changed" I said. My bags were already packed and noticed there were two duffel bags. I was used to travelling light but mom must have added extra. I grabbed a faded white loose top that was that had sleeves ending at the elbow and the nearest pair of jeans. My black flat boots felt smaller than last time and I stared at the arm where the mark of the bullet wound was. I didn't try to cover it, knowing I didn't want to forget.
I slipped into the bulletproof car with my duffel bags dragged behind me and for three whole hours my brain was screaming at me to turn back and make mum change her mind, but it was too late as I saw the gates of Gallagher open. The front was empty, knowing that the girls would have been preparing for Welcome back Supper. Mum slipped out of the chair muttering about how she was late and walked towards the school. My bags were carried in and Mum led me down the oh- so- familiar Gallagher Academy.
It wasn't my first time here. With Mum as headmistress, I used to explore this place everywhere. I knew the same old passageways, the secret hiding spots. It was hard for spies to forget and just thinking that one phrase touched a nerve. Spies don't forget, not faces, not memories, especially one's that might haunt you.
Mum's voice rang loud even from outside the door. Voices followed after and I noticed boys coming towards me.
"Dr Steve I presume and Blackthorn" I said quietly
"You guess correctly Miss Morgan, an honour I must say" Dr Steve said politely
"Ditto" I said and moved away and leaned against the pillar, feeling the boy's stares, I studied them as they looked at me, except for one. But when he did, he smirked and my stare became hard as blue eyes met green. His eye's studied me and I felt vulnerable as the boys stared at one thing in particular. My arm and the bullet wound. Mum's voice droned on until Dr Steve alerted the boys it was time.
"Please Welcome the Blackthorn Boys" Mum said and Dr Steve guided them into the hall and they passed me one by one. The boys got settled at the front, staring out into the room and the door remained open.
"In other news, we have a new student, many of you may have already heard of her. Please welcome my daughter, Cammie Morgan" Mum said as she nodded in my direction.
"Now or never" I whispered to myself, as I walked in and felt my codename was nothing but a joke as I felt eye's all concentrated on me. Mum didn't need to tell them my codename, they already knew. The whispers grew louder and heard the two words that struck a nerve. Civilian Boy. And walking down the Grand Hall, I felt memories flash of Josh Abrams. Mum greeted me with a hug and pointed my room-mates; I nodded and walked my way over as Dr Steve talked.
"Hello Roomies" I greeted causally as I sat down, as I came closer I noticed Rebecca Baxter. Long story short, we spent a summer bonding when we were 14 while trying to stop a bomb in Russia
"Morgan, never thought I'd see you here" Bex laughed
"Tell you the story later Bex" I said grinning
"You guys know each other how?" A blond girl asked
"We bonded while we were in Russia" Bex said
"Over a bomb actually" I finished and the model like girl laughed.
"Macey McHenry, and yes I'm the Senator's daughter, that's Liz Sutton, smartest girl in the planet" Macey said
"You guys usually have Blackthorn over?" I asked
"We didn't even know they existed until now" Liz stated
"Well, isn't this year going to be fun" I said as Bex smiled.
"Do you mind?" A voice came behind Bex and she turned around and shrugged like she didn't care and motioned for the four boys to sit down in their table, introducing themselves as Grant, Zach, Nick and Jonas. I felt the boys stare at the arm and I looked up from the strawberries I snagged from the breakfast table.
"Take a picture, it lasts longer" I said
"What happened?" Grant asked motioning towards my bullet wound and it was until then the girl's noticed and gasped. I winced at the memory and I looked my strawberries uneasily, it was red, the colour of blood. I dragged the strawberries away from me quickly and they noticed my discomfort. The people around us noticed it to but they didn't look, but I could tell their ears were perked up for an answer.
"You don't have to tell-"Grant said but I interrupted
"Bullet wound" I confirmed as they boys nodded, and the flashes of Hutch's face as he fell came into my mind. I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked up to see Mum
"Cammie, Go rest, I know you're thinking about it" Mum said
"Not going to help" I stated
"Cammie, I know this is hard" Mum said
"It won't help, I'll just remember every detail" I said
"Don't do anything stupid" Mum said before walking off as the bell signalling class was heard throughout Gallagher
"I need a rescue party" I said, before throwing the strawberries in the bin in disgust and washing the taste off.
"What was that all about?" Bex asked
"Nothing, just a bad mission" I assured her and we walked in silence with Zach and Grant behind us heading to Sublevel 1 to face Joe Solomon. Many thoughts rushed through my head as I entered Sublevel 1.
1. Joe used to much cologne
2. He probably did that to impress Aunt Abby
3. Girls paid way to much attention ogling at boys
4. Joe was smirking at me
5. Something was happening and I wasn't going to like it
"Cameron Morgan what a pleasure to see you here" he said cheery
"Someone's cheery today" I said sitting down next to Bex
"The director told you?" Mr Solomon said
"Yep" I grumbled
"First day today, no notes. Meet me at the gates in 10 minutes and by then I want you in normal clothing, oh and Cammie don't pull anything stupid or you can say goodbye to any more missions until you graduate" Joe stated.
"'I'll try" I said as I followed Bex out the door and the rest rushing to their rooms to get changed. The fact I wasn't even in school uniform to start with made life easier but obviously not when you have Macey McHenry who insisted I changed. I laughed and grabbed fresh jeans, tank top and leather jacket, keeping the boots in their place. With only 5 minutes to spare, Bex and I joked while walking to the gate and saw Grant, Zach and Nick already there since they didn't have to change (and they didn't have a male counterpart of Macey). Grant kept his eyes on Bex who continued to joke with me pretending she couldn't feel Grant staring at her. I raised an eyebrow at Bex and examined her. Her brown hair was let loose and she wore minimal makeup as possible. Her strapless floral playsuit hugged her figure and her arms and shoulder hidden with a denim jacket. At the corner of my eye I noticed Liz there with Jonas
"I though Liz didn't take CoveOps" I said
"Guess we need technical people to for this" Bex said and laughed as she saw Liz and Jonas blush furiously at each other
"Cute" Macey said looking at the couple. Her black hair was pulled back into a messy bun, no makeup, short black skirt with pale pink button up top and a long cardigan and she managed to look amazing. Joe watched as one by one girls and boys came out into the gates where there were two vans. He split the class into two motioned which half went to which Van. Zach, Grant and Nick went behind us and I sat in the middle three with Macey and Bex. Anna Fetterman and Tina Walter squished in the front seat and Mr Solomon came towards our Van with the keys in his hands. Exiting the gates, there was an awkward silence
"Where are we going?" I asked, keeping my eyes on the road
"Roseville" Joe said, I tensed up and sucked air in between the teeth.
"Everyone collect a comms, around Roseville Mall there will be disguised agents tailing you, your mission is to come to the Ruby Slippers Exhibit at exactly 12pm without a tail, you'll be in pairs" Joe said getting Tina to hand out the comms and separating us in two's.
Fuck, why him I thought as Joe paired me and Zach together. I swear I could feel his smirk from behind me.
"Simple as that" Bex said
"I wish" I said quietly but the van was so quiet they could hear me. The mission itself was simple but it was Roseville, which meant Josh Abrams., my first boyfriend and first kiss. He was a mistake, a phase but somewhere in my heart, Josh Abrams stayed. There came a point in every spy's life they wished to be normal like civilians, well last year came that point and Josh was there at the right time, right place for me to fall in love. It was against the rules, Spies and Civilians and the one thing that wasn't supposed to happen, did. He found out. The CIA took precautions with me, and wiped what they could of Josh's memory for me. If I walked in the street and he saw me, he would know me, he would remember as his ex-girlfriend but the memories would be blurry but he wouldn't remember knowing I was a spy. The CIA made sure of that.
Roseville came into view and Joe made his way to the mall which was 30 minutes ahead
"You won't see him, and even you do he won't remember much about you" Joe said quietly as he reached the parking lot.
"Figured" I said
"See you at 12pm" Joe said as he slipped out. My internal clock told me it was 10am just two hours to get rid of tails.
"Let's get this over and done with" Macey said, dragging Nick by the arm and entering the mall like they were normal teenagers going on a mall date. Nick groaned and pretended to be a complaining boyfriend who didn't want to go shopping, but honestly I don't think they needed to pretend that much , the cover fitted them.
I stuffed my hands into my jacket and was relieved that the wound couldn't be seen. Not today, too much memories coming to haunt me for my liking. Zach came toward me and linked his arm into mine as we entered the mall
"Let's play a game of I spy" I said
"I spy with my eye, girl by the café with the reversible jacket" Zach said
"I spy with my little eye, boy in hoodie, he was in tennis gear before" I spotted
"I spy with my little eye, someone in blue tailing us" Zach said.
"We can't have that, now can we?" I said innocently. We criss-crossed around the mall like we were minding our own business and my internal clock alarmed we it was 5 to 12. The Ruby Slipper Entrance was in sight but I made my way to the store next to it, as Zach became puzzled. A group of teenagers gathered around the store with shirts all from the same church group, coming out I slipped in with them and Zach slowly followed having to duck a bit and we came into the Ruby Slipper Exhibit face to face with Joe.
"Just in time, you two" Mr Solomon smirked
"Sad to say, none of you completed the mission, but the agents were successful in there's. You have 10 minutes to get to the front of the mall and we'll travel back to Gallagher" He continued and walked off leaving us all exposed.
"They're good" Bex said, I turned around facing everyone and I smiled in realisation. The CIA agents would know me, they would know my tricks and where I would go, which meant, my team. Most of my CoveOp class was starting to break away and turn to the entrance.
"Cammie" a voice said startled. My eyes grew wide and I mouthed fuck towards the others. I closed my eyes, opened them and took a deep breath while the group of teenagers looked at me like I was crazy. I spun around and saw the one person I didn't want to see.
"Hey Josh" was the only words I could muster at the moment. I saw his friend DeeDee with her arm around his and looking guilty
"What are you doing here? I thought you were in DC now-"Josh said but I cut him off
"Decided for a change, you know" I said
"You look busy, but this conversation isn't as awkward as I thought it would be, look call me, we may not be going out anymore but we can still be friends" Josh said
"Josh, I don't think that a good idea, my mum would have my head" I explained, as I stared at the piece of paper with his number on, I was tempted to take it.
"Cammie" Josh said
"Fine, friends" I confirmed, Bex came forward along with Macey towards me
"Cammie, come on, we're going to be late and have to walk to school then" Bex said, dragging me off, but I turned around and managed one quick look at him as he disappeared around the corner.
"We might not be going out anymore?" Bex recalled from the conversation. I slowly nodded my head.
"We have five minutes to get out of here, come on" I said
It wasn't long before we found ourselves back in Sublevel 1 with Joe Solomon quietly staring at us.
"You failed your mission, you were compromised and you didn't come to the Ruby Slippers Exhibit without a tail" Mr Solomon said
"Do we get to see these agents" I asked, Joe's mouth turned into a smile
"Of course Miss Morgan, ladies and gentlemen, the best of CIA" Joe said pointing to the back of the classroom where we didn't see a group of people slip in. My face broke into a smile, and before I could stop it I laughed
"Should have known it was you guys" I said, as their faces came into the clear and Alex had that glistening look into his eyes.
"Somebody getting sloppy" Alex said
"Am not" I said
"Am too" he fought back, but I didn't fight back. I knew I was. I failed a simple CoveOps assignment.
"Give her a break, she's been through a lot" Someone said at the back
"We lost someone that day, not just her" A voice said dripping with venom. Eliza. She stepped out from the back, her long blond hair and striking blue to green eyes was in my director. She was 22, pretty young for a spy but she was skilled in more ways than one. Honeypot was just her minor speciality, and she was known to be the best at that.
"I know and I'm sorry" I said. I knew what I was apologizing for. Eliza was Hutch's sister, a spy family into more than 4 generations and they never lost anyone unless of natural causes until this time.
"I know better than to blame you Cammie, I know it's probably not your fault, but trust me when I say, I'm not feeling a single bit guilty knowing my brother's death haunts your dream, I'm not guilty cause I know you see his face at the moment and I know in your mind you're going through what if I held on just a little harder, just a little faster-"Eliza said
"Eliza, stop it!" Joe said, stopping her speech abruptly
"Why must she? It's true" I said
"We'll see you soon Cammie" Alex said
"Wouldn't be too sure about that Alex" I said
"I control whether or not, Cammie will be stable to go on any missions with you guys" Joe said
"Or if I'm sane you mean" I corrected him, Alex chuckled and hugged me
"When are you ever sane?" he asked and with that my team walked out the door.