Hiya guys! Its me again! I know this story was supposed to be a one-shot but a few of you are a bit confused, which I can understand, so i've tried to write another chapter making this vic a two-shot. I don't know if this chapter will lessen the confusion or just add to it if I'm being honest! I just hope you enjoy reading it, but it's honestly not the greatest writing..
Anyways, thank you for the reviews and such, I really appreciated them! Let me know how you feel about this chapter please! Read on..
18 Months Later.. *CIA Headquarters*
"I can't believe you. You stupid, stupid, girl. What were you trying to do, huh? Protect me? Well look at me, I'm a wreck. And what for? You were too busy protecting others that you couldn't even protect yourself!"
Zach hovered over the once love of his life, which much forgotten tears dribbling miserably down his face. His sniffles were ignored by the only other person in the room, only due to the fact that she was unconscious.
Zach barely recognised the girl laying in front of him. The last time he'd seen her, her shiny blonde hair was darting away from him, and his heart at felt like it was literally cracking. He was too stunned to run after her that day; his only hope was to bask in his complete and utter misery. Which he continued to do for a good three months before even beginning to look for the girl he loved.
Looking at her now, her then long blonde hair was now a short straw like quality, not to mention it was dyed a deep black. Her usually smiling face had an awkward fat lip, with a deep marring scar covering her left cheek. He wouldn't have recognised her if it wasn't for the necklace he bought her the last birthday he saw her. Zach reached out to trace the scar disfiguring her face lightly, begging her to wake up if only to remind him of her beautiful eyes. Little did he know, the most fatal wound was hidden under her washed out clothing.
"Please Cam, just wake up for me. Just open your eyes, twitch your fingers, anything." He spoke softly to the unresponsive girl. His head rested on both her hand and his. To a normal by passer it would look as though he was praying but Zach knew better. He knew that his girl waking up was only up to her, and knowing the blonde she's being stubborn. Anything for a few more minutes of sleep, he thought bitterly, remembering a time when she almost knocked him out for waking her up early. He chuckled at the thought.
"I'm surprised you haven't tried to hit me for trying to wake you up. You are losing your game, Gallagher Girl." He teased. "Come on, hit me I dare you. You've never turned down a dare, so hit me. Wake up and hit me, Cam." The further he pressed the more angry and desperate he became. Practically screaming at the girl in angst, "HIT ME CAMMIE! JUST WAKE UP!"
"You know she would have knocked you out by now, right?" A new voice spoke, much to Zach's distaste. He was just as angry with his former best friend as he was Cammie. But at least he could actually shout back when he argued with them, instead of lying lifeless in response.
"But she's not awake though, is she? All thanks to you." Zach knew it was a low blow, and equally he knew it wasn't Grant's fault for her unconscious state, but at the moment he had no intent to take his words back. If he was suffering, he wanted everyone else around him to, too.
"Zach you know if I could swap places with her I would." Grant's voice was filled with guilt and worry.
"Well you can't!" Zach exploded, turning on the boy angrily. "She shouldn't have even been in a position to get into this state in the first place! Where was her back up? Where were you? You weren't there to protect her, and neither was I because of your ridiculous plan to leave me behind!"
"Zach if we could have taken you, we would have. But it wasn't safe, for any of us. So we made a decision, and it was better off that you weren't there. You would have blown our cover while trying to protect Cammie, and although thats what we should do to those we love, but we are spies Zach. We are spies that have to put feelings aside or innocent lives could be lost." Grant spoke sharply and all business, pushing the thoughts of one of his best friends lying still a few feet away from him.
"What and Cammie's life wasn't classed as innocent? Should she not have been taken into account when you went on this life threatening mission?!" Zach snapped.
"Cammie knew what she was getting into when she took the job. We all did. None of us knew what was going to happen out there, but we all had to play the part and it just happened to be that Cammie's was the hardest." He cringed at some of the memories where he wanted to snap any man's hand that lingered on her body for longer than necessary, but helplessly unable to do anything about it.
"You should have taken me with you. I should have been there to protect her. Now look at her." Where Zach's voice and lowered into a somber whisper, Grant's anger had quelled. How dare he think that he could have protected her better than him? As if Grant didn't want to interfere when she was being held too roughly, or call off the whole mission when she was out of view for more than three seconds. How dare Zach accuse him of letting Cammie get beat up into the state she as in. He had done the most he could in a helpless situation.
"You don't think this is hard for me Zach? You think I've haven't spent every waking minute since this happened what I could have done differently? If only I didn't send her into that house alone? If only we had reached her a few seconds earlier when she realised she was compromised? Maybe if I had done this, or maybe if I hadn't done that, maybe if I had read the situation even an ounce clearer, my practically sister wouldn't be lying in a coma five feet away from me!"
At Grant's sudden outburst, Zach's eyes widened. Although, before he had any time to reply, Grant marched on.
"So no, I'm glad you weren't with us Zach, you know why? Because everytime you close your eyes you don't see her chained to a chair, silently taking the beatings she was getting handed out. You don't see the blood that was surrounding her when we finally got there. Oh god, there was so much blood. You didn't have to hold her hand as she drifted in and out of consciousness, begging for her to just keep her eyes open a little longer." His mind was replying the horrible night, his eyes glistening at the horrid memories. He gave a short bitter laugh, surprising the other boy who's eyes had long since been dry. "And you know why she kept herself conscious for a few more seconds, even though she was in excruciating pain?"
He gave a sad smile, relieving one of the worst nights of his life.
"Cammie, please. Just a few more minutes. Doctors are on their way. Just keep them open a few more minutes, please."
She opened her mouth to speak, but proceeded to choke on her own blood that was dribbling from her cheek wound.
"Shh, Cam don't try to speak. Oh, god. I'm so sorry Cammie. So sorry. I never should have cleared you to go in here. I should have known that something wasn't right. I should have been here to stop this sooner."
Tears streamed down Grant's face as he applied pressure to the biggest knife wound -her stomach. She slowly reached into her jean pocket, ignoring Grant's protests, and cracked a small grin when she retrieved the item. A small memory card, no bigger than the top of her finger, now smeared in her own blood. Grant's mouth opened in shock. She had done it. She had completed the mission. Of course she did. She's the Chameleon, he thought.
"Cammie..how did you-I mean, when? How-what?" He was utterly speechless in awe of this stubborn little girl in front of him. She giggled, which soon turned into coughing, splitting blood out with a grimace.
"I gave up everything for this mission, Grant. I wasn't about to end it without success." She gave a cocky grin to her friend before slowly becoming more limp in his arms. Quickly he began shaking her sleeping body, feeling as her pulse become weaker and weaker in his useless arms.
"BEX! GET THOSE DOCTORS HERE NOW! OR SO HELP ME I'LL OPERATE ON HER MYSELF!" His actions became more clumsy and un-uniformed as the CIA's specialised medics streamed into the room, trying to tug her body away from him. It took Bex's crumpled and heartbroken expression to release Cammie's body and bask in endless worry with his girlfriend about the girl who means so much to everyone.
Grant's thoughts were returned back to the moment but Zach demanding him to tell him what happened. Grant thought it was best him not to know, not even he should know, but alas once Cammie was declared off limits to anyone apart from the doctors he went back to his stake out apartment and watched back the video of what he had missed once Cammie had been compromised.
"Ah, so you want to join our little business do you Miss St James? I can't help but query your complete and total loyalty to us though." A big, rather middle aged looking man, questioned her suspiciously with a hint of malicious in his eyes.
Respectively and confidently Cammie -or Tiffany St James- replied, "I believe I have showcased my loyalty to you by completed all your missions as of last night. You can trust me with the disc. I want to be a part of your circle Sir; the CIA need stopping and I am more than willing to join the fight to take them down." She looked so convincing that if Grant hadn't known she was on their side, he would have even believed her.
Although, her lie was clearly not justified when the man began laughing. Sharp, accusing barks directed at her. Cammie stood silently, secretly puzzled by the man's behaviour but keeping her face a stormy neutral.
"Oh, well you had me going for a while there I must admit. The fact that you actually completed our little missions amazed me to be honest. But that sentence right there.." He wiped a fake tear from his eyes and slapped his knee mockingly, "You crack me up Miss Morgan." At the use of her real name her eyes grew wide. "And to add to the entertainment I've brought in some toys to play with." Just then he opened the briefcase she thought had been filled with money, to reveal a selection of various tortue instruments. He looked at her with a vicious grin and muttered, "Oh yes, this will be fun."
As soon as Grant saw that she was outnumbered sufficiently by the older man's beefy goons Grant had called for backup and hightailed himself to where she was, whilst simultaneously trying to abort Bex from her safer mission. He needed all of the little backup they had.
So looking at the bleeding boy in front of him he decided to lie. Just a little white lie that anyone would believe because it should have been true. He should only know what happened up until she was compromised. He should still be clueless as to what happened in the eight minutes it took for Grant to reach Cammie's holding room. But he wasn't. In fact, he knew exactly what happened as he broke the CIA laws and re-watched the whole eight minutes that he wished to god never happened.
Looking back towards the video, Grant had to appraise Cammie because she never let any information slip, even when the angry cruel man was spitting threats and her, and often carrying them out within seconds at her refusal to cooperate. So, Cammie should have been considered the perfect little spy during her tortue session, and she was..until he brought out a live video feed of her best friend.
Bex Baxter. Her beloved best friend who had a sniper pointed right at her as she was chatting with an elderly women. Bex had suddenly began sprinting down the street and Cammie assumed she was told about her situation and was, in fact, coming to her location to 'rescue' her. The thought of Bex being killed in a split second made Cammie feel physically sick inside. Her stomach began to turn, reminding her of her first Cove Opts mission when Joe showed her photos of her friend's torn up faces.
The leader standing in front of her was growing impatient, and threatened to order her death if she didn't answer his question. A question she was not expecting.
"Where is Zachary Goode?"
"Zachary Goode? Who is that?" She answered in fake confusion. Internally she was gathering all her information about this man, trying to link it together to find out why he desired the boy she loved. It became obviously the knew she was lying when another resounding crack echoed through the room.
"Don't play coy with me girl, I know you know him. Now where is he? Somewhere close? A part of your pathetic little team that are supposed to keep you safe? Or perhaps he is somewhere safe altogether? Are you protecting your pretty little boyfriend, dear Gallagher Girl?" He sneered at her, spitting the nickname she usually fought butterflies for at her in a childish mimic.
She spat at him which was combined with blood; the only available option when all her limbs were tied behind a chair. Although, she was working on them; albeit slowly. His anger took a sudden leap and he carved a deep gash across her cheek with a jerky movement.
"Answer me you little bitch! Where is he?" At her silence he grabbed his bloody knife and began tracing her neck. As if she hadn't had worse,she thought sarcastically.
"Go on", she egged him on, "kill me, I dare you."
He laughed maliciously. "Kill you? What? Before the big finale?" Another manic laugh. "You have ten seconds to tell me where Zachary Goode is before I order them to kill your friend. Poor little Bex, killed by her own friend." He began his count down from 10. The seconds ticking away as she hurriedly tried to break out of the last restraint trapping her from ending the horrific pig. He was down to two seconds and she knew she had to stall him. Just a few more seconds.
"What do you need with Zach? I can give it to you, just leave him out of it!" She shouted desperately. She took on a pretence of begging, letting him believe that he had finally cracked her. Although, the more seconds he was still conscious and speaking, the more anger built up inside her. She'd be damned if she was going to let anyone hurt one of the sole reasons she took the mission in the first place.
"1." He finished his countdown, tutting at her. "Cameron..my dear Cameron. You cannot possibly give us what we wish to get from Zachary." At her protests he held up a hand and continued, "You see, Zach is very special to me and my partner and we wish to be a proper family. Through which we can only do done if Zachary is returned to us." He smiled fondly as though envisioning the perfect family. Clearly he was delusional if he ever thought Zach would willingly and even unwillingly, ever resemble any kind of 'family' with this man.
As his words began to register in her mind she could barely contain the vomit rising in her throat. She swallowed tightly, "You mean..your partner is Catherine G-"
"Its Mrs Goode to you you disrespectful little witch!" Another slap, and a punch to add to his anger. "And due to you not helping us achieve our goal, your little friend Bex..will have to die." He gave her a mock sympathetic look and slyly grinned towards his phone. Just as he was about to pick up the phone and basically order Bex's death, Cammie sprung from her chair and tackled the man to the ground. His fighting was less than adequate and Cammie's chokehold around his neck meant he should lose consciousness in about three seconds. Should being the key word. Cammie had convinced herself not to snap the guys neck, as much as she wanted to; she knew the CIA would want him for questioning, but the dark thoughts were tempting.
Three seconds. Thats all he had to wait. Three seconds and it would have all been over. But no, the crafty slime ball decided to make things interesting. And THREE SECONDS before inevitably blacking out, he plunged a knife directly into the Cameron's stomach, shocking her enough to release her hold on him a centimetre. A centimetre enough for him to push her arms away from her restricting hold. As pain and dizziness began to fill Cammie's rapidly heavy body, she grabbed a hold of the man's jacket as she sunk down to the floor.
Her last effort to complete the mission was the most simple extraction of the disc from his inner jacket pocket. Simple.
Well, I say last act to complete the mission. She obviously knocked the guy out before he could get away. Just because she was practically dying didn't mean she was going to let this guy get away and fulfil his sick twisted fantasy that included the love of her life. So with a swift roundhouse kick to the head, which was much more of an effort than Cammie cared to admit considering she began from the floor and basically ended in a clumsy slump. She muttered bitterly to the knocked out man before laying against the floor, listening to heavy footprints she didn't doubt weren't Grants.
"The things we do for those we love, huh."
And thats expertly when Grant and their backup arrived.
Only now, looking at Zach's tear stricken face, did Grant realise how much people will do for love. Zach hadn't cried since he was eleven and his 'Uncle Joe' told him his mother was gone, and he couldn't trust her anymore. From then on he decided he couldn't trust anyone, and so he became the most skilled spy in Blackthorne at concealing his emotions. Grant had known this when they had met and he steadily crept up into the boy's head, and later his heart. But what really changed Zach was the girl in front of him. Cammie. He had never felt so strongly about someone before and the thought of never getting to tell her he loved her again and her responding with her dimple ridden smile crushed his whole body more than he ever thought was humanly possible.
Grant realised that if Cammie were awake and was asked to go back and repeat the mission she would in a heartbeat, even knowing the consequences. Of course she would. Because she was protecting those she loved. Like always. No mater how badly she got hurt, she never thought of how everyone else would feel if she were to die. No, she only thought about saving everyone else.
The two boys looked at the blonde girl they both loved so much, albeit in completely different ways, but love her they did. They both silently took ahold of one of Cammie's hand gently, and got lost in their thoughts and memories of the young girl who no one could ever replace. At this moment, Grant wasn't even ashamed to admit that he prayed to anyone who was listening to make sure she was going to be alright.
"What if she doesn't wake up, Grant?" Zach whispered into the deadly air. They didn't know how long they had been sitting there, each holding one of her hands delicately in theirs, lost in their thoughts.
"Don't say that. She is going to wake up. She has to." Grant's unwavering voice left no room to argue, but protest Zach did. He started pacing; driving himself and Grant mad.
"She should have woken up by now. I mean..come on, she's stubborn I get it, but she's Cammie. She always pulls through." He spoke as though to convince himself more than the other male in the room. His lip was pulled tightly between his teeth, his hands running through his unkempt hair, tugging at the ends.
After a half hour of Zach's pacing and muttering, a rough looking Bex rushed into the room. Zach ignored her clearly distressed form, still royally annoyed at the girl for not taking him with them; although he understood now was not the time to pick a fight with a worried Bex Baxter. Not unless he wanted to be beside the girl he loved, in an equally as unresponsive state.
Seeing Bex like that made Grant's heart ache even more than it already was. He wanted anything to see her smile again. To see both of the girls smiling and laughing at each other. He'd do anything. And apparently so would Bex.
She took a hold of her best friends hand after brushing some of her castaway hair behind her ear. Smiling sadly at the sleeping girl she took a shaky breath before speaking, recalling the only was to get Cammie out of bed before all of this happened.
"Now Cammie, I'm giving you five seconds to wake up or I'll get payback from our last little argument." No response. "I'll even let you call me by my full name, and I promise I won't knock you out." She almost cringed at her threat, but yet not even a slight movement from her friend to acknowledge that she'd heard her. Bex's last resort was her only hope. Hoping to connect with Cammie's memory of the beginning of this god awful mission she repeated the first sentence of their departing 'fight'.
"Alright, don't say I didn't warn you," she muttered to her best friend. With a deep breath Bex hurled the insult at Cammie, just as she did so many months ago, "GET THAT CHEATING LITTLE BITCH OUT OF MY FACE!"
At that moment Bex thought her plan was in vain, that Cammie wasn't going to wake up, and that they could only hope she stayed fighting long enough to find her way back to them. And her finding her way back arrived in the next thirty seconds.
"It was actually LYING little bitch, Rebecca. God, don't they teach you vertebrae at that spy school of ours." Cammie's voice spoke croakily but they was a hint of sarcasm they could just make out. Her eyes rolled playfully and she had an awkward looking smirk gracing her face. Bex thought she had never been so relieved to hear her full name.
After everyone was broken out of their shock, she was reprimanded by Zach, as well as sharing a tender kiss and muttering apologies. Shared a meaningful look with Grant which told her that he knew everything of her..exchange with Zach's 'step dad', although that was quickly dismissed when he gave her a gentle hug and gushed about how brilliant she was -also mentioning she is never going on a mission above a level 5 clearance again, to which she scoffed at. And Bex was just so happy she had her best friend back; her other half in a sense. Those four days when she knew nothing of Cammie's condition, knew nothing of what would happen to one of the most important people in her life, well she was one coffee away from going clinically insane. She dread to think what she looked like, but she found herself not caring as long as Cammie was breathing and talking and even trying to crack a careful smile without reopening her stitched up lip.
Catching Bex's stare Cammie grinned at her. Bex's eyes glistening with rare unshed tears making Cammie's own eyes spill over with water without permission. The girls both give shaky laughs, half mixed with relieved sobs and hugged each other tightly; careful not to cause too much movement considering Cammie did just wake up from a four day coma.
Pulling back Cammie realised how lucky she was to have the people she loved around her. And even though she could well have died on this mission, she would happily do it all again and more if it meant protecting the people who needed it. She did admit to herself that if she were to do it over again she would have taken in a sharper knife to get out of her restraint quicker. Or just killed him when I first saw him, she thought nonchalantly. She felt invincible as she soaked in the love that surrounded her. She knew she would protect them until the day she died; which may be quite soon after hearing Bex's next sentence.
"Well Cammie, you didn't wake up in the five seconds I gave you to, so I guess once you're fit as a fiddle again, they'll be a sparing mat with your name on it for calling me Rebecca."
Cammie widened her eyes comically as Bex manically laughed, to which the boys soon joined in. Cammie smacked Grant playfully, telling him to control his women. Not Cammie's smartest moment considering Bex growled, promising another five rounds of kicking her but.
