Chapter 2
James met Rat and Kerry out by the main entrance at exactly 5 o'clock. John Jones arrived a few moments later, with him an old and familiar CHERUB face- Kyle Blueman. James broke into a smile when he saw his best friend, and now M15 agent, walking towards them."Kyle!" James said, greeting his friend with a manly hug. Kyle grinned as Kerry launched herself at him."Kyle! How are you? What are you doing here?" Kerry said, pulling back and smiling at an old friend. Kyle greeted Rat with a friendly fist pound and turned back to Kerry."I'm the M15 agent working on the mission with you." Kyle said, as John lifted the kid's cases into their 4x4. John slid behind the wheel and Kyle sat in the front seat. The three kids sat together in the back."Erm, John?" Rat asked. John raised his eyebrows and looked at Rat in the mirror.
"Rat?"
"How long will this journey be?" the newly qualified navy shirt asked. John thought for a moment.
"Probably about 1 hour on the plane from London to Glasgow, then an hour up to Perth from there." John replied, starting the car and driving across campus. Rat groaned- this was going to be a long day.
••••••••••
James was sitting next to Kyle on the plane, who had fallen asleep and was snoring like a pig. James lightly pinched Kyle's cheek, and the M15 agent woke with a start.
"We're landing, sleeping beauty. Put your belt on." James said, buckling up his own belt. Kyle fastened his belt with a click before leaning back to resume sleep for the last few minutes. James punched his shoulder.
"Wake up! No one sleeps on landing!" Kyle groaned,
"Well I do." Kyle said, shutting his eyes and turning away from the younger boy. James sighed and went back to playing COD on the PSP provided by the plane. Kerry and Rat were sitting together in the two seats behind James and Kyle. For most of the journey they had been watching films or discussing the mission. When the hostesses came round to ask everyone to fasten their seat belts for landing, Rat felt sick. He had always hated the landing of a plane, and sometimes suffered from mild altitude sickness. He and Kerry both buckled their seat belts as the plane began to dip.
•••••••••
Kyle, James and Kerry all unbuckled their belts when the plane stopped, whereas Rat was curled up in a ball, clutching Kerry's hand. He had been terrified when the plane started dipping, and Kerry's hand was the first thing he found to grab. Kerry gently released her hand from his vice-like grip and undid his belt.
"Rat. The plane has landed. You're okay." she said, helping Rat out of his chair. Rat looked stricken as he pulled his hand luggage out of the hold above the seats and walked towards the front of the plane, behind Kerry. He snapped out of his daze when he stepped off the plane, though. The cold Scottish air and drizzle hit him like a brick as he descended down the stairs from the plane to the ground. He jumped on the bus to take them over to the main airport and he stood beside his 'father', John. John ruffled Rat's hair.
"You alright?" he asked, gripping on to the hand rail at the side of the bus. Rat nodded, hoping that some of the colour was returning to his pallid face.
"Nervous?" Rat went to shake his head, then stopped. Was he nervous? Not really, all he wanted now was that prestigious black shirt. He knew it would be tough, though. He'd had to work extremely hard just to get his navy shirt, so how hard would it be to get his black one? He desperately wanted to catch up with his girlfriend, and James' sister, Lauren Adams, who was one of the youngest black shirts in CHERUB history. Rat was jolted out of his daydream by James punching his shoulder. The bus had stopped at the main building and the 'family' were getting off the bus. John and Kyle were already over at the conveyer belt, loading suitcases onto a trolley, when James, Rat and Kerry arrived. James pulled his blue and Kerry's purple suitcases off the conveyer belt and loaded them onto the trolley. Rat loaded his own silver one on and John led them over to a tall, burly man who was standing with a piece of paper marked- Jones. The burly man took them out to a black people carrier waiting in the car park and got behind the wheel. Kyle got into the middle seat at the front while John helped to lift the cases into the boot. Kerry tapped John's shoulder and discreetly tipped her head towards the man in the front seat, hoping John would understand. John nodded and whispered in Kerry's ear.
"He's an MI5 bodyguard. Name is Hans Luke." John said, his voice low and quiet. Kerry nodded and climbed into the back with Rat and James on either side.
"Who's the burly dude?" James asked, as the bodyguard turned the key in the ignition and the car hummed to life.
"MI5 bodyguard called Hans Luke." Kerry replied, doing up her seatbelt as the car pulled out of the car park. James gave Kerry a thumbs up as he pulled his own PSP from his pocket. He leant across to ask Rat if he wanted to have a game of COD, but the 14 year old was already asleep, snoring softly. Kerry smiled.
"Flight must have taken it out of him." Kerry said, smiling fondly at the younger boy. James gave a grunt as he switched on his PSP.
"He's a good kid, but I swear, if he hurts my sister-" James was interrupted by Kerry jabbing him in the ribs.
"As if Rat would ever want to hurt Lauren," she said, pushing James over a bit. "Now move over, I want to get some sleep before we get to our 'new house'." James sighed and reluctantly moved over a bit as the big car pulled out of the car park and onto the motorway.
A/N: So sorry for not updating recently! I've had exams recently but they're all over now, so hopefully I can crack on and write a bit more! I want to introduce Lawson's kids in the next chapter, so there might not be much action in the next few chapters, but (fingers crossed!) there will be some later! Thanks for reading and reviewing! :)
thebestoftimes
