Cammie POV

Jack was my babysitter while I was a kid. I remember how much fun we used to have; sometimes we would play hide-and-seek (I always won, obviously), sometimes we would do crafts, but mostly we just talked. She would tell me about the boys she was dating, her dreams, her friends. My mom and dad would go on missions and she would stay with me. We would stay up late and she would let me eat all of the Peanut MnM's I wanted. She was, in short, my best friend. I was, though, always curious as to why my parents trusted her. It wouldn't be until later that I would find out that her parents were CIA agents, also. She, of course, was clueless. Her parents had sheltered her from their lifestyle in an effort to keep her safe, the irony behind her current situation. They had no way of knowing that their daughter would go to work for an MI6 agent or that he would be assassinated. They especially had no way of knowing that she would stay with her boss's nephew or that he would be hell-bent on staying in trouble. She was safe now, of course but her recovery would be a long one. I wanted to call the Rider kid that instant, but I knew we needed the leverage.

As for how we got here in the first place, they found me. After I left Gallagher on my self-assigned mission, my friends tracked me down and gave me an ultimatum: continue with them or be taken back to Gallagher. My choice wasn't an easy one and for a while I was angry. Angry at myself for being found. Angry at my friends for not understanding. Angry at the Circle for starting this in the first place. Heck, for a while I was angry at my dad for not being there to help me. It was Zach who finally helped me understand where they were coming from.

Flashback

I was in the bathroom crying, a new normal for me, when I heard a light tap on the door. "Gallagher Girl?" I heard hesitantly from the other side of the door.

"Go away, Zach," I grumbled.

He, true to his nature, came in anyway. "Zach, just leave me alone," I muttered. "It's not like you care, anyway."

He roughly grabbed my arm and spun me around to face him. I shrugged his hand off. "What did you say?" he demanded, his voice low but anger evident.

"You don't care how I'm feeling or else you wouldn't have backed me into a corner like this!" I exclaimed, suddenly enraged.

"We are the ones in the corner, Cammie! In fact I think I'll just go try to take out the Circle so you no longer have anything to worry about!"

"You can't do that!" I sputtered indignantly. "To go without backup would be suicide! I don't care how protected you are, if you pose any real threat you'll be dead in a matter of days!"

He just smirked at me. Then, it all dawned on me. "You mean you aren't going to make me stay behind?"

Zach simply laughed, "Of course not! Keeping you behind was never part of the deal. You do need backup, though."

"I'll be in charge of the missions?"

"Naturally, Gallagher Girl."

We walked out to start strategizing.

End Flashback

Macey was currently getting food for the next few days. And Liz…well, it was decided that it would be best if she stayed behind to keep up on the technical side of things.

"How are we going to do this, Cam?" Bex asked, breaking me out of my reverie. "Torture? Send a picture to the Rider kid and threaten more harm? Cut off one of her—"

"No, Bex!"

"But I thought—"

"I said no! No matter what, no harm comes to Jack."

"Jack? You know her?"

I took in a slow breath, trying to dispel the pain. "Yeah, she babysat me while we lived in D.C. Her parents are in the Agency."

"Then how did she end up with Rider?"

"He kind of inherited her from his uncle, I suppose."

"How are you going to contact Rider, then?"

"Would you like to see your parents, Bex?"

Zach cut it, "You mean—"

"Yeah," I said, "We're going to London."

So, how was it? Terrible? Amazing? Completely inaccurate? It's been a really long time since I've read either series so if I got something wrong, don't hesitate to correct me. Also, I'm sorry for my almost year and a half hiatus. I will love you dearly if you review, even though I know I don't deserve it.

My thoughts are stars I cannot fathom into constellations,

~Alysa :3

PS If you know what book that is from you will officially be my favorite everything.