A/N Sorry it took so long! Kind of a transition chapter… More soon!
I nuzzled my head into the crook of his shoulder and sighed, not wanting to let the moment go. He seemed to agree silently and held me closer.
"Cam," he whispered, "it's time to go." My shoulders slumped and I could hear Madame Dabney condemning me for my posture, but I didn't care. He gently rubbed his thumbs along my arms, looking down at me intently. I gazed back, memorizing the way his brow furrowed in his concentration and the way the corner of his mouth twitched into a smile when he caught my intense scrutiny.
"Be careful," I reminded him, as if he actually would. He smirked, his green eyes sparkling mischievously.
"I'll be careful if you'll be careful." I smiled and rolled my eyes good-naturedly.
"Come back soon."
"I will." He leaned down and kissed my forehead before quickly stepping out the room.
Alone but feeling fortified and ready for anything, I straightened my shoulders and walked into the hallway. Now that I was calm and had my head on right, I began to notice the subtle changes in the hallways I once thought were identical. It was like I was looking at everything with fresh eyes. Small hairline cracks identified one wall from the other, and some doorknobs had been replaced with newer ones. The tiny cameras were sadly out of date. Upon close inspection, I found that they were the 2000 version that had poor visual and moved so shakily that anyone watching them would have a hard time distinguishing objects in view. This was obviously not one of the primary COC bases. Feeling a little insulted that they hadn't taken me to a high security holding, I walked on, not knowing what I was looking for but still looking.
A map began to form in my head as I wandered. So did a plan.
I assumed that they hadn't taken me out of the country, and remembering back to Doc (shudder) his accent was tinted with Northeastern slang. I smiled to myself. If I knew Liz at all, her radar would pick me up with ease unless there were signal blockers around the building. Unlikely. If they didn't put up the latest hall monitor system, they probably wouldn't invest in high quality signal jammers. Now all I needed was the equipment to contact her.
"Thanks for giving him a second chance." I jumped, jerked out of my reverie of plotting. Spinning on my heel, I jumped, switched feet midair and kicked hard, aiming at the source of the voice. My foot made contact but strong hands wrapped around my ankle before I could retract for a second attack. He held my ankle in one hand and pinched his nose together with the other.
"Sorry James!" I exclaimed, struggling to keep my balance on one foot while trying to reach toward him in order to help.
"'S'okay," he replied in a muffled voice. He gently set my foot back on the ground and designated both hands to stopping the bloody flow.
Concentrating on his nose, he began to shuffle past me. I followed, guilt wracking my conscience.
"James, I"- He didn't let me finish, but just held up a single bloody finger. He led the way through a part of the building I hadn't been in before. The new halls were wide and spacious with skylights overhead and early morning light sifting in.
Our surroundings became continuously more modern as we progressed. When we finally stopped at one door, the walls were pure glass with infrared laser on either side. Hand scans and DNA checks were outside of every solid steel door and a version of cameras I had never seen before followed our every move.
James pulled out a small digital device and pointed toward the scanner. The door clicked open freely.
"Having too much time on your hands can be useful," He mumbled, still looking cross-eyed down at his nose. I smirked and followed him into the room. His room. Two cots were pushed up against the wall and a mass of electronic equipment cluttered any open space.
"Nice face," a voice said with a chuckle. I spun around, fighting the instinct to kick him in the face. I looked down at him. He looked around our age and had nearly-black curly hair, a tan complexion, with dark blue eyes. He stood up, extending a hand in my direction. The girl in me began melting; the spy in me took notice of the faint scar that marked the side of his face.
"The name is Joel"he offered. I shook his hand.
"Cammie." He smiled largely.
"Cammie Morgan?" I nodded. "I've heard so much about you," he said, "obviously from Zach, but you're pretty much the most despised person around here." I let out a short sigh. So much for being a Chameleon, huh?
"Gee, thanks," I muttered sarcastically. James walked back in, his face red from being scrubbed.
"Is it all gone?" he asked, walking closer for inspection.
"All except your shirt," I nodded towards it. He looked down and groaned before deftly ripping it off. The girl inside me nearly died. I was in a room with two young men. One with the angelic/bad boy curls and the other standing shirtless with a six pack. I gave myself a mental slap and snapped back to reality.
"I'm really sorry James," I apologized, "it's all just instinct."
"It's alright Cam," he assured me, "don't sweat it." I managed to give him a small smile before tearing my eyes away again. Thankfully, he put on another shirt. A small beeping noise broke the silence from behind me. Glancing over my shoulder, I saw Joel pull out a small cell phone and flip it open. His eyes scanned the screen for a moment before he shut it again.
"He just took off," he informed us.
"Good." They began to move quickly, gathering equipment and packing others away.
"What're we doing?" I asked, confused by their sudden commotion.
"We?" Joel shot back, glaring at James.
"Hey," James said as he straightened, putting his arms up in surrender, "I made no promises."
"Well obviously I'm coming with you."
"No, I don't think you are," Joel growled as he walked towards me, his blue eyes flashing.
"I think I am." He took a step closer, almost breathing down my neck by now.
"No. Every time someone comes with us," he whispered menacingly, "someone gets hurt, someone doesn't come home." I couldn't help but think of Aunt Abby, how she'd gotten hurt because of me, or Macey, when her arm had been broken because of me, or my dad; who never came home. I took a deep breath.
"That won't happen this time," I whispered back forcefully, "because I know what I'm doing. Both sides need me." Behind Joel's domineering figure, James nodded thoughtfully.
"I think we should take her," James said.
"What?" Joel turned, no longer whispering, "She's a liability! She'll just get hurt!" I met James's eyes. I raised a single eyebrow and he answered in a simple twitch of his lips. I grabbed his arm, swiftly ducking my head under his arm and twisting his wrist inwards. Feeling his weight shift in surprise, I used his weight against him and landed him squarely on his back, groaning in pain. A low oath slipped out as he rolled onto his side. Suddenly, his hand shot out, grabbed my ankle and pulled me down. A second later, Joel was on top of me, his breath ragged and hot on my cheek.
"Never let down your guard," he advised before gently removing himself from me and reaching a hand down to help me up. Surprised by his sudden kindness but remembering his warning, I reached up and yanked him down next to me. We both turned to look at each other and began to laugh. James looked from Joel to me and back again then settled for shaking his head at us and continuing with his gathering of equipment.
"So," I began when we finally settled down, "can I come?" Joel sobered quickly and looked up to exchange glances with James. He sighed.
"It seems that we don't have much a choice," he conceded. Disliking the tone of his voice but glad that they accepted it, I got up. Joel got up, too, and finished helping James. Within five minutes, we were deemed ready and proceeded to walk out the front doors of the COC building. I couldn't help but feel extremely awkward and out of place as we stood in front of the massive building.
"Um," I started.
"Don't ask," James warned, shooting Joel glances over my head.
"You probably don't want to know," Joel added.
A/N Goode? Bad? Awful? Let me know please!