I do not own the Gallagher Girls series. That belongs to the amazing Ally Carter. I however, own the storyline. It's a fan fiction for the love of—! God, these disclaimers are so pointless. Honestly, I don't even—... O_O

Summary: When Macey is kidnapped by the Circle while defending Cammie, can they rescue her in time? Or better yet, will Macey survive the ordeal?

Author's note: Unless otherwise mentioned, this story will take place from Cammie's POV.

Chapter 2

"Missing In Action"

"Cam?" Liz voice was very young and very scared, and seemed to be coming from a long way away.

I heard a horrible, low moan, then realized it had come from me.

When I came to and opened my eyes, Liz and Bex were leaning over me, concerned expressions on their blurry faces. I let my vision refocus for a second then looked at my surroundings. I was in the school's infirmary, and looking around, I saw several familiar faces.

"How are we feeling, Ms. Morgan?" Mr. Solomon asked. He was leaning against the post at the foot of the bed, his arms folded. My abdomen was sore and my mouth still had a lingering taste of iron, but otherwise I was still in one piece.

"I'm okay," I croaked. I looked at Bex. "What happened?" I asked and attempted to sit up.

I didn't get a quarter of the way there before Bex firmly pushed me back down onto the pillows. I felt okay enough to sit up, but I didn't dare resist against Bex Baxter's hold. "We were actually hoping you could tell us," she said. "We heard you yelling and were about to come over to your position when you came flying around the corner. Then you just sort of... collapsed." I didn't have to see her face to tell how worried she'd been.

"You gave us quite a scare, young lady," Mr. Solomon scolded.

"How long have I been out?" My internal clock hadn't reset itself yet, so it didn't hurt to ask.

Liz shrugged and sat down. "About three hours."

Memories came rushing back to me, and that's when I first realized one of my roommates was nowhere to be seen.

"Where's Macey?" I glanced around the room again, halfway expecting to see her walking around the curtain at any moment, or (Gillian forbid) lying in the cot next to me.

Nobody answered. Nobody moved. A spec of dust could've landed on the ground and it'd sound like an explosion (especially if that dust was from Dr. Fib's laboratory). A cold hand clenched my chest. I sat up fully this time, ignoring the look Bex shot me. My mind flashed back to Boston again, and I prayed this was all a bad dream that I'd wake up from in my room and everything would be exactly as it should, with all three of my friends dozing and mumbling in their sleep.

"Where is Macey?" I asked louder this time. My voice was strained and my throat was dry, but I didn't care.

I don't know how long the silence stretched on—minutes? Hours? Days? I pleaded with my eyes at Mr. Solomon, but he remained silent, his eyes boring into mine, a thousand silent questions being asked.

"We thought she was with you," Bex said slowly, carefully. I saw worry appear in her eyes.

"Sh-she was," I stammered, my heart beginning to pound. "She was right behind me...We..." My voice trailed off.

Here's where knowing how to lie to just about anybody (namely yourself) comes in handy. I knew, I knew Macey had made it back with the rest of us. She had to have had. I instantly reminded myself of a Gallagher Girl's hard-wired desire to never leave one of her sisters behind, and I knew Macey would never, ever abandon her sisters, her family. Would never abandon me.

So why wasn't she here?

Without waiting for any other response I bolted up and was running up the stone staircase before I even knew what I was doing, like my body had just listened to my subconscious without waiting for a command. I heard Bex and Liz's voices calling after me, their footsteps right on my heels. I knew I couldn't outrun Bex even if I had on running shoes, and she quickly caught up. She didn't try to stop me though. We trusted each other's instincts, and right now my instincts were telling me something was seriously wrong here.

I took the stairs two at a time, fear and uncertainty urging my legs to go faster. I knew it to be only seconds but it seemed like I'd run a whole mile to the top of the stairs. I turned the doorknob and leaned my shoulder into the door, flying into our suite.

It looked exactly as it had been when we'd last left it. Macey's uniform lay folded on her bed, and my fear escalated.

I whirled around, obviously looking panic-stricken. Bex's jaw was clenched tight and it looked like she might break something. Liz tried to convince us the odds of success were higher than they really were. "She might be in one of the other rooms," she said, struggling to keep up as I raced back down the stairs and into the Hall of History. Our quick steps echoed down the empty corridor. The scraping of forks on plates told me the rest of the school was in the Grand Hall, and figured it was sometime in the evening.

I didn't even bother knocking; there was no time for that. I ran into my mother's office only to find Mr. Solomon already there. He didn't seem the least bit surprised that I'd come here. My mother's gaze swung over to me, her hands folded on her desk in front of her. I looked from one to the other.

Now I don't know if you know this by now or not, but I absolutely hated when I was in the middle of the conspiracy and had no idea what was going on. Heck, my life is a conspiracy in itself. But all I knew right now was that Macey was nowhere to be seen.

"Cameron," my mom said gently as she stood up and walked over to me. "How're you feeling?"

"Macey's not here," I said, not even bothering to answer her question. I'd just sprinted up and down a flight of stairs. I think I'm okay, thanks.

Mom said nothing. Her eyes seemed far away, like she was looking at me but she didn't see me standing right in front of her, out of breath and frantic. She took my shoulders and led me over to the leather couch. I sat down wordlessly.

Mr. Solomon sat on the coffee table in front of me. "Ms. Morgan," he said, "is it true you ran into the Circle during the CoveOps exercise in town today?" He didn't sound angry or interrogative, but... concerned. Puzzled. Like something was fogging his vision and he couldn't quite see clearly.

I nodded numbly.

"How many?"

"Seven," I replied automatically. The details played through my head like a movie projector.

"And Macey McHenry was with you at the time?"

"Of course she was," I snapped.

Mr. Solomon merely nodded slowly, digesting the information I was spitting out of my brain. He looked me straight in the eyes for the first time since I'd stepped foot into the office.

"Now, I need you to tell me exactly what went down." His tone assured me there was no room for argument, so I rambled off everything, not missing a single detail, from the time we'd been standing undisturbed on the rooftop to when I'd passed out. A deathly silence followed after I'd finished speaking. Mom was talking quietly into her desk phone, her brows wrinkled in the middle like they do when something serious is troubling her.

"What is it?" My voice sounded foreign even to me, which is saying something when you know fourteen languages and converse in them during breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

"This is about Macey, isn't it?" Bex asked, her accent faintly registering.

Mr. Solomon stared out the window onto the shadowed grounds that seemed to darken even as I watched. Then his dark eyes met mine.

"She's gone," he said gravely. "They took her."

...and the plot thickens! Let me know what you think of this chapter (want it longer, shorter, want Chuck Norris to make an appearance, etc.) and watch out for the next one.

Feel free to review, criticize, and add to your watch list. Let me know how much you're enjoying this fan fiction. You readers out there really keep me motivated! :-)