Somewhere A Clock Is Ticking

Chapter 2: The New Mission

Kade pulled her long into a pony tail that sat on top of her head. Pulling it tight, she threw a pillow at James who was asleep on his bed. "Wake up J, Charlie has the whole week packed with practices and debriefings." She pulled a head band over her hair and took a look at herself in the mirror. "Good bye miss personality, hello miss bashful."

James put his hands on her shoulders as he walked up behind her. "It won't be that bad." He told her. "You'll like it there, I promise."

She sighed and pulled herself away from the mirror and stood in front of the keypad, punching in numbers. "I'll see you down there. I want to take a few extra laps before the work out." She announced to him as the door slid open.

Greece was one of her longest assignments to date and three weeks later she was being sent off to the middle of nowhere for another mission that could last her up to two years. Her life was being a special agent for the PSIA, not being a high school student.

"Heard that little Kitty here doesn't like her new mission."

Kade turned around to face Lucas. "Lucas…" she said with a fake smile. "How was Germany?" She looked up into his eyes. He was the first and only boy she had ever really kissed, that is not being on a mission. And now they were bitter enemies.

"Pretty good. Heaven compared to where you're going."

She narrowed his eyes at him. "You have no idea where I'm going. Classified information. And your not on the list." She threw back. "Seems like you're never on the list."

Lucas looked her up and down and sucked at his teeth. He slowly walked backwards and out of the gym.

"Looks like you two have patched things up." James said from behind her. "You didn't hit him."

Kade kicked the bag next to her with all of her strength. "If he would have stood here any longer I might have." She kicked the bag again. "That boy pisses me off."

James chuckled. "Really? I hadn't noticed." he grabbed the swinging bag and held it in place for her. "You ever going to tell me what happened between you two?"

She kicked the bag again. "We went out and broke up and now it's bitter. Not much to tell."

"Come on Kade, I know there is more to the story. You know as well as anyone that things are always more than they seem."

She let out a grunt as she spun around and kicked the bag harder. "Hey, want to tell me about this high school I'm going to?"

James let out a heavy sigh. "Well, it's a normal high school. Lots of gossips, lots of cliques, lots of drama. Basketball is very big, which makes yours truly a very popular guy."

"What about The Subject?"

"Well," he started. "He's my best friend and the most popular guy in school. He sticks with his own kind." Kade stopped kicking the bag and stared at him with a blank look. "His friends play basketball and his girlfriends are the cheerleaders and the party girls. He loves his parties."

"Really?" She figured James was nodding his head, but she was already marching out the door. Her shoes made no sound as she walked down the long, white hallways. Putting her hand up to the scanner, she ripped open the door. Her full attention was focused on her the task at hand. She made it through a eight more doors before she reached Charlie. "A party boy!" she yelled at him. "He's a party boy and I'm a shy, smart girl. In what world do those two match?"

"Kade…" he sighed heavily.

"No," she put a finger up to his face. "I don't want some half ass reason for this. I was you to tell me exactly why you made me his most incompatible when I'm supposed to get close to him."

Charlie slowly walked out of the room and Kade followed. He led them past multiple rows of computers and people and into a large office area. As he shut the door behind them, he slowly turned around to face her. "We think that there is more to Troy Bolton than meets the eye." He said. "If you, as his supposed opposite, can get close to him, befriend him, make him trust you it will help us understand him better. It will help us protect him better when the time comes."

She let out a small breath, "You mean if the time comes."

"No," he shook his head. "I mean when the time comes." He walked over to him desk and pressed a small red button. "Someone please find James and send him into my office, please."

She groaned and slumped into one of the black leather chair that sat on the other side of his desk. Sweat glistened on her forehead as she sat and anticipated the meeting she knew was going to happen.

Five minutes later James walked through the office door and took the seat next to Kade. He weakly smiled at her, as they both knew that these meeting were never good.

"Kade, you have one week until your first assignment. James, you have two weeks. You both need to realize how important these next few months are." Charlie started his long speech. "The Subject appears to be just an average 16 year old boy, but you both know that that is not the case. Both of his biological parents were PSIA first level agents, both very wanted by an enemy."

"Who is the enemy?" Kade interrupted.

Charlie sighed. "We are not sure of their exact name, location, or anything. All we know is when we spot them; we have to protect Troy and his adopted parents at all costs."

James leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, "Where are his biological parents now?" he asked in curiosity.

Once again, Charlie sighed. "According to official reports they were both killed over the summer trying to protect Troy. But they are both still alive, barely, but alive."

"Then why are they still after The Subject if they think that his parents are killed." Kade questioned.

"Like many of our enemies, they believe we cannot die. So they continue to pursue The Subject in hope that it will his parents back out of hiding so they can finish the job."

"What did his parents do to them to make them backlash for so long?"

Charlie and James exchanged glances. "We don't know." James explained. "There is nothing in any of our paperwork or video or voice recordings that suggests that they went off and thoroughly pissed off a powerful enemy."

Kade let out a heavy sigh, "So tell me why exactly we need another agent to get close The Subject when we already have one agent on him full time and two on his adopted parents."

"We have reason to believe that the enemy has infiltrated The Subject's home base." Charlie started to explain.

James leaned over to his friend. "That means the high school." He whispered.

She turned her head sharply towards him, "I think I got it." She whispered back.

"As I was saying," Charlie started back up again. "There are some extremely suspicious men who have taken up jobs at the home base and that is very bad for us. So after James contacted me about them, I decided that it was time that we get more people in there for extra protect. Which means that Shannon and Jason will befriend The Subject's parents just as Eric and Tina did. And you will befriend The Subject personally just as James did." He cleared his throat and continued on. "There is no doubt in any of our minds that the enemy will attack. The only question is when. So it will be your guys' jobs to find out where, when, who, and how. It is the most difficult task in years. James, you have been preparing for this for years." He turned to face Kade, "And Kade, this will be your most challenging mission, but it is of utter importance that you don't miss a beat and keep your mind on the mission at all times."

"Anything else I need to know?" she asked in a sigh.

Charlie handed her another folder and winked, "You might want to brush up on your singing lessons.

Kade accepted the folder and she and James slowly exited the room. Their tennis shoes squeaked on the floor and they walked through the hallways only to part at the elevator. James continued down the hall as Kade stepped into the elevator. No music played, just the hum of the shaft moving up the floors.

Facts about her new life flooded through her head. For the majority of her days she would not be Kade Katherine; the girl with no last name, the girl that knew facts about almost everything, the girl who has lived her whole life on the edge and in the middle of the action. James would no longer be her best friend, Charlie would no longer be her surrogate father, and Lucas would no longer be her first and only boyfriend.

She had never been so nervous for a mission. She has been in the presence of royalty, secretly sipped beer with some of the richest kids in the world, driven a car down an ally while a gun was being shot at her. She could kill a man with only a sharpie and a cell phone and she could defuse a bomb with only a paperclip and a rubber band.

But all of her experiences would never prepare her for this. The chance to be normal kid. Normal was not a term used in Kade's life, but now it was all she had.

"Why the hell am I so nervous?" she muttered to herself as the elevator doors slid open.


Author's Note: Thanks to everyone who reviewed, I'm super excited for this story.

And I know that it's kind of confusing at this moment, but it will make a ton of more sense in the next few chapters. Keep in mind that this is kind of a "What if?" story. Like, what if Chad and Gabriella weren't who they say they are?

Keep reviewing!!