Gallagher Girls 5: Spy and Seek
Don't own anything but the story! (Forgot disclaimer last time!)

Chapter Three: Collapse

I sat down on the leather couch in Mom's office and crossed my ankles. Macey and Liz followed suit on wither side of me and Bex sat on the arm of the couch. I watched warily as Mom sat in her leather office chair and Mr. Solomon leaned on her desk with Aunt Abby at her side. Dad stood behind Mom's chair. They all looked between my father and me. Dad exchanged a slightly uneasy glance with me.

"Will you stop looking at me like you're about to throttle me?" I hissed at Bex.

My dark friend crossed her arms. "I'm clearly not the only one. The only difference is that I might follow through with it…"

"Actually, I think I might too," interrupted Macey.

"Are you sure you're capable of that?" I snapped at her.

She smirked and replied, "Yeah, I'm sure."

Liz placed her hand firmly on my upper arm. "Stop provoking each other. We're here to hear and discuss Cammie's so-called adventure."

I flinched at her touch. My hand involuntarily jerked towards my left arm. Liz looked at me worriedly. "You okay?"

"I'm fine," I muttered.

Dad looked at me with a flicker of concern. I looked away. "Well, since everyone's here, allow me to tell you my epic story."

The door swung closed as I left the hospital ward. The voices of Abby and Mom faded to an incoherent murmur. I melted into the darkness and did what I did best: blend in. My firs stop was intentionally get caught to gain access to the Circle's base. Risky, but since I had no other choice, I went with it. Ms. Goode caught me.

She wanted something from my memory. Something that related to my father, but I was unsure of what it was. I think she had wanted to torture me, but something stopped her every time. I never found out what it was. She tried inducing a coma and just talk it out of me. Yet I knew nothing that could help her. She was unexpectedly kind to me. She fed me edible food and provided a mattress for me to sleep on. She only hit me once and hurt me once more.

That time, she had lost her temper during interrogation. The last words I said had been, "Daddy loves my Mom and he'd do anything to keep her safe. He'd do anything to save anyone that was important." Something in her broke and she hit me. It hurt, but I saw her eyes. The held more pain than the pain I felt. She came at me again. This time, with a knife, she slashed at me. The blade left a long cut on my left upper arm. Yet again, her eyes were bright with an unknown pain that was greater than mine. Almost like she lost something she loved even more dearly than her son.

When she saw what she did, she backed up in slight horror and swept out of the room. The next day, I was taken away to another unknown base. In a series of three weeks, I was shipped all over the place. Eventually, I ended up at the headquarters where Daddy was. The Circle members all treated me well. Roughly perhaps, but well nonetheless.

Daddy found me. I didn't trust him. It took him half a month to gain any trust. But it was him. He bought me clothes and shoes and anything a teenage girl would love. But I'm not normal. I didn't care too much about the items, but it made him happy when I wore them. So I did.

Daddy told me that the Circle had no purpose anymore. He said he took them down when he stripped them of purpose. I believed him then. But now, I'm not so sure.

Summer came to an end. It became time for my return. The Circle base, believe it or not, was almost like home. The people there, who may be thugs, had decent intentions. They weren't evil.

"So tell me, Daddy," I whispered at the end of my narrative. "What did you do to Ms. Cassandra Goode and why are you really here?" I reached up to stroke my upper arm where a pale scar was. "And don't lie about it. If I can't catch your lie, your best friends will, if not your wife."

Dad sighed. "I was put on a mission with Mr. Goode. He was killed before me and Cassandra blames me for his death. So do I. Your last words to her triggered her reaction when she believed that I did not save Mr. Goode because he was not important enough. She was once a close friend. I do not know about now."

I saw Mom's knuckles turn white. I'm not sure whether it was her reaction to me getting hurt or the mention of someone who I think was close to her. Abby was alarmed that I was hurt. She seemed relieved about something. Mr. Solomon just watched Dad with a steady gaze.

My thoughts were coming short. There was wave of nausea and my vision grew blurry for short periods of time.

"Cammie?" Macey waved her manicured hand in my face. "Cammie! You're not listening."

Bex tilted her head to her side. "She looks like she's going through withdrawal or something. Cammie, can you hear me?"

I closed my eyes for a moment.

~ Spy and Seek ~

"Cammie? Honey, are you awake?" asked my mom gently as she stroked my hair.

I shifted heavily under the covers that had magically appeared when I closed my eyes.

"You fainted, squirt," Aunt Abby answered my tacit question. "You have a minor fever. Matt thinks it's from stress. Joe thinks you've been poisoned."

At that, I cracked a small smile. "Joe? On first name basis already?" I slumped back down. "Wait, you're together already…gosh, my head is fuzzy."

"You got that right," a deep voice said. Mr. Solomon was still sitting on the edge of Mom's desk. That meant I was lying on the couch.

I struggled to push myself upright again and suddenly swore under my breath. "Food. Duh! I haven't eaten since last night."

"You haven't eaten since last night?" Mom repeated, shocked. She rounded on Dad and demanded, "How can she have not eaten since yesterday?"

Dad held his hands up, "I offered food! She just didn't eat it this morning."

"What about lunch?" Abby interjected. "What kind of father, even a missing one, doesn't feed his daughter?"

"She didn't eat it!" Dad retorted. "It's not my fault!"

Abby looked ready to hit him again. Mom looked hurt.

"Will you all shut up already?" I snapped as I shoved myself to my feet. The covers were nudged aside in a rumpled heap. "It's not Dad's fault that I didn't eat!"

Mr. Solomon looked uneasy. "Perhaps, Cameron should get something to eat first."

I glanced at Mom. She just nodded and I left her office. Once I grabbed some beef jerkey from the kitchen, I slipped into a secret passageway and slid to the ground with tears prickling my eyes.

It was strange. Nothing that happened should be enough to make me cry. Must be them hormones. Curse them.

From my place in the passageway, I heard the low voices of my parents, Aunt and teacher. I even caught a sliver of what they were doing.

"I swear I didn't do anything!' Dad muttered as he scratched his head.

Mr. Solomon just rolled his eyes, "Woman these days." He earned himself a smack from Abby.

Mom glanced at her calendar and pushed her dark hair over her shoulder. "It's just near that time of the month."

"Why do you even know that, Rach?" Dad asked. "I don't, even if I were by her side all the time."

"That's because you're her father, Matt. Not her mother." Mom touched Dad's face gently. "It's going to take time for her to really get used to having you around. All of us need to."

Dad sighed and kissed her forehead. "I know."

I heard the whisper of the office door as it swung open. A cool, feminine voice said mischievously, "Whoops. Am I interrupting something, Matt? Rachel? Solomon? Long time no see, Abby."

I could almost hear that woman's silent amused laughter. Who was she?

~ Spy and Seek ~

To be Continued

AN: Don't kill me! I was busy writing my one-shots and lost ideas for this chappie. By the way, my loyal readers, does anyone have any objections to me introducing an OC to this story? Review your thoughts! Love you all~

~Flurryfox