Plot: Cammie and Zach haven't seen each other in 5 years (they're 21) and when they finally meet again, Cammie is very, very different.

Disclaimer: I don't own the Gallagher Girls series

I hit the ground hard. Like teeth busting, skin slicing hard. But every bone in body knew better than to react to the pavement that threatened to injury me. Instead, I just got up and continued my chase.

My target (a man who was supposedly selling nuclear weapons) advanced into an abandoned building. It took all my will power not to smile with glee. He was about to be cornered with no where to run.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are!" I said as I entered the one-story building. I was met with empty silence, which was expected. This man wasn't stupid.

I didn't care though, this little chase was actually pretty fun. I knew what would happen next. I'd search around the building for a little while, then I'd find the man trembling in a corner holding some kind of make-shift weapon. He'd try to fight me off, but eventually he'd give up and I'd take him in.

"Hey!"

I looked up and, to my horror, saw the man squatting on a ceiling beam and holding a fire extinguisher directly over my head.

Before I could even react, the man dropped to the ground like a stunt double with a sickening Thump!

I looked in shock at the unconscious man that lay beside my feet and then I heard someone brushing their hands together.

"CIA," I said to the mysterious sound.

"Oh, look at you. Got yourself a badge now." I heard the shadows speak. I cocked my head. That voice sounded so familiar. But it couldn't be. Could it?

"Hello Zachary," And then she-Cammie Morgan-stepped out of the shadows.

"You did that?" I asked in amazement and fear.

She smiled and walked over to the man, slapping a Nicotine patch on his head. "You were right. They're are some things they don't teach you in school."

"What happened to you?" I asked.

"You mean after you left me in London?" Cammie asked innocently. The undertone of venom and hatred stung.

"I didn't leave you," I muttered quietly.

She laughed bitterly. "Really? Then what do you call you ditching us in the middle of a fight and never talking to us again?"

"It was for your own good." I replied.

Cammie paused considering what I just said. "You're right."

"I am?" I said, a little surprised she'd admit that.

She nodded enthusiastically. "Ever since you left, I've realized that I need to be able to protect myself, and that I can't depend on other people."

I took a step back, as if she had slapped me in the face. "What?"

"I don't need anyone to protect me, Zach. That's the lesson you taught me." She replied, while tying my target's hands together.

"What about Bex and Liz and Macey?" I questioned.

"Why do you care?" She snapped. "You left them to die."

"Cammie-" I started.

"Save it Zach," She laughed that bitter non-Cammie laugh again. "I've been done with you for a long, long time."

Cammie bent down to the unconscious, tied up man, and plucked his wallet out of his jacket. "Arthur B. Queen," She read aloud before slipping the wallet into her pocket.

I shot her a confused look, but she just smirked at me. "It's always good to have a lot of covers."

Cammie turned to go, but looked back at me at the last second. "I'll tell the girls you said hi."

And then she was gone and if it weren't for the man laying still beneath me, I would've thought the whole thing was just my imagination.

I don't know how long I just stood there for before I heard a crackling in my left ear.

"Danger where are you?" Jonas's voice rang through my com. "Do you still have visual on the target?"

"Yeah," I replied quickly. "I've got him down and I need back-up."

"On my way as we speak," Grant replied.

I busied myself with starting my reports while I waited for Grant to show up.

"Whoa," I turned to see Grant walking in with a look of shock. "You took that guy out cold."

I shook my head. "It wasn't me."

Grant frowned, confused. "Then who?"

"Cammie,"

Grant sucked in some air and let out a whistle. "You okay, man?"

I sighed and decided to be honest with my friend. "No, I'm not. She was...different. She's not Cammie."

"That's rough man," He picked Arthur up and took him back to the van that was waiting for us. "Is there anything I can do?"

"Yeah, there is actually," I said as I got in the passenger seat. "Do you happen to know how I could reach Bex?"

I walked into the quaint coffee shop a couple mornings after my encounter with the new and not-improved Cammie. Surveying the room, I quickly spotted the English beauty at a booth in the back corner.

"Hey," I said when I arrived at the booth.

"Hi Zach," Bex replied in a toneless voice. I guess Cammie wasn't the only one who hated my guts.

"Thanks for meeting me," I replied while slipping off my coat.

Bex stirred her hot chocolate for a while before looking at me. "I think you deserve to know the truth about what happened."

"To Cammie?" I asked.

"To everyone."

Her tone made my stomach drop. "You know I didn't want to leave her."

Bex shoulders hardened. "No Zach, I didn't. No one did and you want to know why?"

I started to explain but she cut me off. "You build walls around yourself Zach and you keep thinking it's for everyone else's own good. But guess what? You let Cammie in and she is-or at least she was- a real person with real feelings. You can't just walk away like you did and expect the world to still go on normally."

I was shocked at her speech, but one part stood out to me. "What do you mean Cammie was?"

"You saw her Tuesday right?" I nodded. "She doesn't care anymore, about herself. She talks to me and Macey a lot, but when she's out on a mission she doesn't care about what she does. Cammie's taken beatings and bullets, and she's been kidnapped and tortured. Then one day, she quit the school and the next time I saw her she was like Angelina Jolie in Wanted."

I nodded, but my spy instincts had picked something up. "She doesn't talk to Liz anymore?"

Bex got real quiet and for a moment I thought she was going to ignore the question. "Liz was kidnapped in London the day you left. We all looked for her, but it's useless. Cammie still is searching though. That's why she's so tough; she doesn't want to have to think before she does something...dangerous."

"I did this to her," I suddenly realized.

Bex looked strained, like she didn't want to say what she was about to say. "Yeah, you did. But-"

"But," I prompted when she didn't complete her sentence.

"We've got company," Bex replied.

I casually looked at the shiny napkin dispenser on the table. I noticed their was a man talking on his cell phone and holding a briefcase. Nothing wrong right? Except that less than ten minutes ago, he had been wearing jeans with a Lakers t-shirt and walking with a dog.