New story! Yay!

Okay, so here's the deal... I really want to write this story. And I will. But to be completely honest, whether or not I post this story depends on you guys and how much you like it (read:reviews and favorites)

This is kinda a trial post. If I get a bunch of people who want to read it, then I will keep posting. But if not, I have college and I can't use my time on posting a story no one will read.

(Don't want to be that author that gives ultimatums.. Reviews just motivate me :)

This story is loosely based on a book I read when I was younger, called Children of the Lost. I hope you guys like it!

If it had been any other subway station, Agent Cameron Morgan would have been dead. Fired, but dead first and foremost.

And that didn't bother her as much as it should have.

At the moment, she sat in her boss's office, waiting for her boss to arrive. Her boss seemed to be taking his good old time, however, and all she could think about was the turn of events that had come about.

Cammie absently played with a newly torn hole in her sleeve as her thoughts turned to earlier that day.

It wasn't supposed to be messy.

She had found herself running through New York City at a frantic pace, attempting to dodge the pedestrians along the way, and barreling through the stubborn ones who refused to move. There were some things Cammie considered more important than a commuter's ego.

Things like the 22 year old woman that Cammie had been chasing through the streets. She was an unknown hacker that had just appeared on Cammie's radar a few days ago. She went by the alias 'Bennett', and had begun an almost unnoticeable hack into thousands of online bank accounts all over New York City, stealing a little less than a dollar from the savings accounts every day. The money had piled up quickly, but slow enough that she stayed under the radar.

It was by accident that her name had even shown up on Cammie's desk. An elderly old man, one of Bennett's victims and a parsimonious man in nature, had kept pride in his ability to manage his accounts, especially now that everything was electronically monitored and tallied. Along with watching his online balance, he had hand-written accounts of every penny he ever spent. The mistakes had quickly added up, and he took the matter to the authorities soon after.

Just in time.

Bennett had hacked into government banks just hours after.

Cammie had tried to simply confront the hacker and take her in. Easy. Except, the suspect hadn't agreed with her plan, and instead decided to run. No matter how hard Cammie tried, she couldn't seem to catch up with the hacker. The distance between them had stayed the same.

The chase eventually brought them into the busier areas of the city, away from the slummy internet café Cammie had initially confronted Bennett in. Right as Cammie was tiring, Bennett took a sharp right turn and careened down the stairs into the subway station.

Cammie had smiled. It had looked like things were about to get much easier. She felt a second wind rush into her body, and her pounding footsteps brought her closer to the seemingly tireless criminal.

It was all fine. Cammie had it under control. That is, until they reached the subway platform, surprisingly bare for the late afternoon hour.

Bennett shoved through a group of people standing near the platform edge and barreled through, accidentally knocking into a little girl. In a turn of events that Cammie could almost see coming, the small child flew into the air and landed on the tracks below, too stunned to even cry out.

Cammie had made a split second decision. And no matter how much Bennett needed to be stopped, saving a life was infinitely more important.

So, she had raced to the edge and dropped down beside the child, bending over to quickly scoop the girl into her arms. And of course, seeing as she hadn't had enough excitement and adrenaline that afternoon, the next thing that penetrated her vision was the blinding glare of an incoming train.

It was in every handbook. Every manual. Every warning. Never ever freeze. Don't try to climb up onto the platform. Everything Cammie had ever read was screaming in her brain, telling her to run, run away from the train and climb up the ladder that should be on the edge of the platform. It was protocol.

Except they weren't there.

Cammie had looked around frantically, but the fact stayed the same. This station didn't have any ladder leading from the tracks to the platform.

Oh, they were so getting written up.

A quick glance at the tunnel showed that she had maybe 15 seconds left. She had run over to the platform, trying to climb up. Who cared what the manuals said. Anything was possible with enough adrenaline, right?

Maybe.

Except adrenaline didn't do much when you had been running through the city, and now held a flailing child in your hands.

Cammie had shoved the little girl into the only waiting arms that were jutting out from the platform edge. For some odd reason, no one else was near enough to help. And they were New Yorkers. They were conditioned to ignore their surroundings.

The man had quickly grasped the child and tried to juggle her around so he had an arm to help Cammie up, but there was no time.

Cammie had made a split second decision. One that, in any other subway station, would have ended her life. But Cammie had grown up in Gallagher Academy. She knew the odds that what she was about to do wouldn't work. She knew that most of her old teachers would've been proud of her guts, and horrified at her stupidity.

But she also knew, with one glance, that the height of the wooden beams that crisscrossed in large rectangles (human sized rectangles) under her feet were just barely tall enough to work.

6 inches.

And then she had dropped to her stomach in the middle of a rectangle and prayed.

The experience had been unlike anything that had ever happened to her before. Nothing at Gallagher Academy had prepared her for the gut wrenching experience of feeling a subway train fly directly over her head, missing her by mere centimeters. The hot gusts of wind that ruffled her hair, terrifying her as she hoped desperately that it wouldn't fly up and catch on the undercarriage. The nails-on-a-chalkboard screech of the brakes as they still tried to stop and miss her.

Too late!

The subway had finally slowed to a stop, one of the cars still resting right over her body.

After that, everything had turned to a blur. It had taken an hour and a half for everything to get sorted out. They hadn't moved the subway right away, as the conductor had a panic attack, terrified that he would kill Cammie on the way back. Communication from under the train was difficult, but by the time the police arrived, she had finally been able to convince them that she would be fine.

After all, it wasn't like she had been trained as spy or anything.

She had spent the last 30 minutes at the station, putting on a mild persona for the cops and skillfully avoiding the cameras that appeared. By the time she got up the subway stairs, there was already a car waiting to take her to the office.

Cammie sighed. Her boss was a very strict person, one who preferred low profile over everything else. Not only had she let Bennett get away, she had also gotten trapped under a train.

Her boss wouldn't care that after the fact, no one could remember exactly what her face had looked like. The fact that no one had actually gotten her on camera.

Cammie shifted in her seat. Four and a half years ago, she may have been nervous. But not anymore. She didn't care anymore.

Her boss would be right. The Chameleon might as well have failed completely. She knew better. She could do better. She had done better.

But none of that mattered at the moment. It hadn't mattered in a long time.

The door slid open and Cammie's boss stepped into the room. He was silent at first, footsteps making no sound in the thick carpet beneath his feet. He finally stopped behind his desk and sat down in the big chair. The silence continued for a few minutes more before he finally looked up.

Edward Townsend stared her down. "What happened?"

Cammie rolled her eyes. He always was one for dramatics.

"Bennett knocked a little girl off the tracks," she shrugged. "Had to save her."

"I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about why you threw all protocol out the window and ducked under a train."

"Sir, you of all people should understand that there are some cases where protocol had to be chucked and you have to improvise." Cammie stared back.

"ETA?"

"Less than 20 seconds."

"Platform assistance?"

"One man, holding the girl."

"Ladder?"

"None."

Townsend's eyebrow arched up. "None?"

Cammie shrugged again. "Safety code violation."

"And you didn't jump up to the platform because?"

"At that point I only had five seconds, platform was high enough that I'd need a running jump, and the wooden beams were just tall enough," she smirked. "I'm a small person."

Townsend shifted in his chair. "How long have you worked for AEGIS3?"

"Four years," Cammie answered easily. "Six months after graduation." It had taken them four of those six months to even consider joining. The events that happened right before graduation had killed her. She knew what was coming next.

Something in Townsend's expression changed. She could almost see the slightest bit of worry, caring.

Almost.

"Are you okay?" On anyone else, the gruff tone would've sounded rude and abrasive. On him, it was almost gentle.

"I'm fine," came the standard answer. "Never better."

Townsend didn't respond. He never did. They both knew her answer was a load of crap. They both knew that the adrenaline she got on missions and the lives she saved were the only things that kept her going most days. And they both knew that she had a pretty good reason to lie.

"AEGIS3 is not a new agency." Townsend began the speech he generally gave the new guys. "It is smaller than normal, but it has been growing rapidly over the past decade. It's becoming an invisible world power in its own right.

"It stands for Acumen, Enforcement, Guardian, International. And the S cubed. Security, Service, Strategies. Acumen: the ability to understand and reason. Enforcement, Guardian. We enforce laws and guard those who need it. International: that one is pretty self-explanatory. We have hidden bases all over the world. Security, Service, and Strategies. These are self-explanatory as well.

"The aegis is a part of ancient Greek mythology. It was a symbol of protection, of security. It was the shield that Zeus and Athena used, and the gorgon's head on the front would scare its enemies half to death before they died at the bearer's hands-"

"No offense, sir," Cammie interrupted. She could only take so much. "You have said all of this to me several times before. Why is this relevant at the moment?"

Townsend smiled apologetically. The sight of it sent Cammie's stomach plummeting. Nothing good ever came of his smiles, but that wasn't what put her on edge. It was the apology. "Oh, I wasn't talking to you."

There was a sudden shuffling noise behind Cammie. She whipped around in her chair and her heart froze in its place, much like it had almost five years ago.

"I was talking to him."

At that moment, Cammie didn't even care that she hadn't noticed anyone enter the room. Because the man who was leaning against the wall, smirking at her, wasn't supposed to be here.

This wasn't Zach Goode. It couldn't be.

Zach Goode was dead.

Okay! First chapter is up! Want it to continue?

Review!