Cherub

Nothing I wouldn't do for her

Seventeen year old James and 16 year old Lauren Adams were called to Zara's office during lunch. They didn't know why, all they knew was that it was important. James had complained that he was missing meatballs for lunch and he couldn't spend time with Kerry –though that's all he did in his spare time anyway-. His sister Lauren had completely ignored him. When Zara said it was important, Lauren knew it was.

Walking into Zara's office after knocking, they were greeted by Zara sitting behind her desk and another young-ish person sitting opposite Zara. Zara looked up when they walked in.

"James, Lauren, come in," she said. The girl sitting at Zara's desk didn't even turn around when they walked in and closed the door. She stayed looking at the desk.

"You've been called here today because someone has asked to see you," Zara told them, her eyes looking at the young girl. The girl stood up and slowly turned around. James and Lauren watched in silence. When they saw her face, the siblings were in shock. They saw a girl with long fair hair that was tied up in a lose ponytail, her blue eyes showing her shyness. Her eyes were unique because of the way a mix of blues mixed together. But that wasn't the only thing that was unique about her. She had a long faded scar that went the whole way down the right side of her face. It looked like it had been there for a few months.

James and Lauren recognized those eyes straight away, they knew them well. "Soph?" James asked quietly smiling. Sophie Adams ran at her older cousin and hugged him tightly, trying not to cry. James pulled his sister into a family hug as Zara stood by her desk smiling. James and Lauren hadn't seen their cousin smiled for three and a half years and this was the first time they had seen her properly in person. All they had seen for years were letters and photos.

After explaining to James and Lauren that Sophie had been on a mission with the police for the past three years in Ireland, and now she was back in the UK. She was staying at the Cherub campus as a guest for a while. Having walked outside, James led the way towards the lake while Lauren and Sophie talked, walking behind him. James grinned when he saw Kerry laying back on the grass, sunbathing with Gabrielle while Bruce, Rat, Andy and Matt were throwing a rugby around. Rat looked up from the game and saw Lauren and he smiled. But of course the ball ended up hitting him in the face.

"Hey! Watch it!" he complained, but he smiled when he saw Lauren giggle. She jogged up to him and kissed his cheek. His face flushed and went bright red. Kerry leaned up on her arms, curious but a little jealous of the fair haired beauty at James' side. Now everyone had turned their attention to the young stranger who was standing next to James.

"Guys you better meet Sophie, my cousin because she's staying with us for a while," James told everyone and they all came to and introduced themselves as James grabbed Kerry's bum. She giggled and slapped his chest gently. He grinned.

"You must be Kerry," Sophie smiled. Kerry smiled at her. She was happy that James had told her about them. She kissed James before smiling at someone over his shoulder.

"You've finally got out of detention then?" she called. James turned around, still holding Kerry and grinned.

"Hey mate, you better meet Sophie, everyone else has," he said, pointing at Sophie who was standing next to Lauren. Dante stopped grinning when he saw the young girl. James noticed his friend standing there with a slightly shocked look on his face.

"You alright?" he asked. Dante didn't reply, he just carried on staring at Sophie. the only thing had changed since he'd last saw her was the scar that she now had. Sophie watched him watch her.

"Hello Dante, but I'm guessing Frost isn't your last name," she said.

The guys found out that when Dante had been on a mission in Ireland, the police had been working on the same mission. They had sent Sophie in as a young teenager called Harriet. During the mission Dante and Sophie had gotten close. But they hadn't seen each other since the end of the mission. Dante passed the empty classroom while Sophie sat on a chair watching him. James, Kerry and Lauren watched them both in silence.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked angrily. He had just found out about who Sophie really was. He couldn't believe the girl he loved had lied to him.

"Because I wasn't aloud to!" she told him, close to tears. He stood in front of her and sighed. "You didn't tell me either, I only found out after you got into trouble with the big drug lords," she told him, before standing up. Dante watched her.

"I'm sorry," he told her. He felt pain rush through him because she looked so hurt. Sophie shook her head and walked out of the room. James stood up and grabbed Dante's arm before he could go after her.

"Give her time," he told him before letting go of his arm. Dante sighed and sat down, putting his face in his hands.

Sophie sat at the end of Lauren's bed. "Soph maybe you should talk to him," Lauren said from where she was sitting reading a magazine. Sophie shook her head.

"I cant, not yet," she told her cousin. She felt so confused, she didn't know what to do. When Dante had left the mission, it had hurt, and she did still love him. But he must hate her now that he'd found out who she was. Plus after he'd left Ireland, she had been attacked by an old friend of one of the big drug lords that she had helped put in prison. She was really ugly now so she could understand if she didn't want him. She sighed and leaned back against the wall and flicked through a magazine.

Dante repeatedly punched a punching bag in the gym. He needed to get his anger out and this was the only way he could think of doing that without hurting himself or anyone else. James stood nearby, lifting weights.

"Do you think she hates me?" Dante asked, punching the bad harder and even more quickly. James looked at his friend. He knew that Dante or Sophie couldn't have told each other who they really were so it wasn't anyone's fault.

"I don't think she does. But you know what girls are like, she's probably upset you shouted at her," James told him, unsure of what actually to say. Dante sighed and carried on punching the bag, taking out his anger.

Lauren ran and practically banged her fist on her brother's door. James opened it and she pushed past him.

"What?" he asked, standing back so Rat could come in. Dante was sitting on a chair, looking out the window. He turned to look at Lauren when he heard her run in.

"She still cares," she told them both, slightly out of breath. She had just ran all the way from the library after Sophie had told how she still felt. Rat stood there in silence, trying to catch his breath. Lauren owed him for that.

"What?" James and Dante asked at the same time, unsure of what Lauren had said. Had his sister just told Dante that he still had a chance to get back with Sophie?

"She's in the library, she thinks you hate her because she couldn't tell you about who she really was," Lauren told him. Dante ran out of the door and headed towards the library before anyone could say anything else.

Sophie sat in the quiet section of the Cherub campus library, reading a book. She was the only one in that part of the library so it was really quiet and peaceful.

"Lauren told me about how you feel," a voice said from the doorway. Sophie looked up and saw Dante standing there, watching her. He was slightly out of breath. Sophie stared at him, wondering what he wanted. Why had Lauren told him? More importantly, what had she told him?

"Sit down, you look tired," she told him, still watching up. Dante sat down next to her and watched her face.

"Why didn't you tell me that you still care?" he asked her quietly. Sophie shrugged.

"You seemed so angry, I didn't want to make you even angrier," she told him quietly, looking down at her hands that were now resting on the closed book. A finger slipped under her chin and lifted her head, making her look up.

"You want to know something?" he asked as they both watched each other. Sophie nodded. "I still love you, I know it wasn't your fault you couldn't tell me," he whispered before leaning towards her and kissing her lips.

A few weeks later, Lauren, Kerry, Gabrielle and Sophie were all sitting around, hanging out by the lake. The boys walked over to them.

"Hey babe," James said, sitting down behind Kerry and letting her lean back against his chest as she sat between his knees. He wrapped his arms around her waist. Matt sat next to Gabrielle and she leaned against him. Rat pulled a smiling Lauren onto his lap, holding him against his chest. Dante fell onto the floor and laid his head on Sophie's lap. Zara had let Sophie join Cherub as an official agent without going through basic training because she had done something similar with the police.

Sophie smiled down at Dante and ran her fingers through his hair. He smiled back.

"How's calling her by her real name going?" Kerry asked as she stroked James' arms gently. Dante shrugged.

"Pretty weird, but there's nothing I wouldn't do for my girl," he smiled as he lifted his head and Sophie leaned down so their lips met.