Chapter 6

I woke to see nothing but white walls and a white ceiling. I squinted to let me eyes adjust to the bright lights that shone down on me. I tried to sit up to see the rest of what was going on but sharp pain in my leg. I had to sit back down for fear that I might faint again.

"You're awake!" I heard a voice exclaim from my right. I craned my neck to see Camino and Jonathan with a happy face. I could tell that they were relieved to see me awake and alert.

"Yes, I am awake. What happened?" I asked.

" You took a nasty fall, have a bullet wound to the leg and have a concussion and a few scrapes and bruises. It all happened because Ace decided to tackle Vilza's robot with you still in his clutches," Jonathan began.

"Don't you mean Wayne's robot? Remember Vilza is Wayne," I softly corrected him.

"Right! Well Wayne had to make his robot let go of your car in order to keep his balance. You came crashing down in a heap of metal and then Ace kind of stepped on your car with you in it. Thankfully he hit the back of your car rather than the front otherwise you would have probably been dead," Jonathan finished with a little nod from Camino.

"Where are we?" I asked taking a glance around the room once more. I was hoping that we had not landed back in England because I didn't want to have to make that crash landing again even though Camino did a fabulous job.

"We are in S.A.L.T.'s base here in the United States," Camino informed me, "I didn't even know there was one until we were brought here by the other agents that came with us. They saw what happened. They told us that there mission was to locate the President for us, but they haven't been able to find him."

"And since your little encounter, we haven't been able to find Wayne either," Another person who just came in stated.

It was Director Alexander and he looked like He had just been through a war. His blue eyes were half closed showing that he had gotten no sleep since we arrived in the United States. It was obvious that sometime during our excursion to the place of the robot's recent attack had made Greg lose his temper as his hair in some places was ruffled and out of place.

"Wayne, or I should say Vilza, is now off grid once again," Greg stated in despair and complete frustration, "He has managed to stay out of our grasp for too long and when he dares to show his face, he is trying to destroy everything."

"Speaking of Wayne," Jonathan began, "Why didn't you tell us that he was your brother?"

I watched the facade of my director fall because either he was devastated that we had found out or that he hadn't told us the truth.

"Tell us, Director Alexander," I heard a gruff voice come from the entrance to my room. I saw Ace leaning against the door post giving the director the most awful glare that I had seen in my life. He was apparently upset at the news just as much as Greg was at us finding out.

"I felt that, at the time it was irrelevant information and that you knowing who your enemy really was would affect how you worked against him," Greg began, "As you can see he means business."

"What caused him to become this menacing man?" I asked softly as my injuries still affected my talk.

"Well, as you know, he is great with computers and when he was sixteen and I was seventeen, that's all I seemed to see my brother playing with. One day at school, one of the bullies caught wind of what Wayne did in his spare time and started to make fun of him by calling him a computer geek and other things like that. He didn't take it very well and on occasion I saw him cry because of what he was going through. He went through five months of it and finally couldn't take it anymore. Wayne ran away from home and I never saw him again," Greg relayed.

"Did you ever see him again?" Camino asked.

"Yes I did. One day I was walking down the hall and I saw the bullies that started the rumors in the first place coming toward me. I didn't know what they wanted but I stood my ground. They tried to get me to make fun of my brother right in front of him. That was the first time I saw him after he had run away and I was surprised to see him there at school. He had a black eye from where, I assumed, the bullies that caught him punched him. Fearing what they could do to me and my brother, I played along with them, and was going to explain it to Wayne when I could get the chance, but I could see on my brother's face that he couldn't believe what I just did to him. The bullies left and I tried to explain to him why I did what I did, but he didn't believe me and told me he never wanted to see my face again. Now he is seeking revenge not only on the people that made fun of him, but also on me."

"So what you are saying, is that Wayne your brother, made himself your enemy because of something you did?" Ace exclaimed arrogantly.

"Ace, there is no need for you to get angry," Greg started, "I only did what I thought was best for the team."

"Only you have now torn us apart because of your lack of communication, and you," Ace exclaimed as he pointed toward me, "Because of your fear of heights, you let one of the world's most dangerous criminals roam free to do more of his dastardly deeds."

"What would you have me do?" I asked, feeling my face get hot from anger.

"If you had your mind on what was at hand rather than how far you were off the ground, maybe we would have captured him and found out the location of the President of the United States. You could have fired your weapons or driven out of his grasp. Your wheels were touching his robot."

"And if she did that, she would be in the same state that she is in now," Jonathan defended.

"Or maybe she would be alright and walking without any bruises or scrapes to talk about," Ace argued even further.

"Stop with the what ifs," the director shouted, "If you guys don't pull it together, then I might just scrap the idea of a teen team and let my brother take over the world. You guys are supposed to work together as a team, not as someone who can't stand the sight of another because of their differences."

"What if their differences detract from the team?" Ace shouted pointing in my general direction. I felt a stab of hurt come over me as I realized that he thought of me as a liability because of my fear of heights.

"Each and every one of you are different in your own way. You have strengths and weaknesses that all make you better. Even if that one weakness is a fear of heights, it still makes us a better team by learning the art of encouraging them to overcome their fears. If Robin is afraid of heights and is in a situation where she encounters a high place, tell her she is going to be okay. Tell her that she can do this, little things like that. That is what teamwork is. Ace and Robin are the ones that need to work on that part desperately."

Ace just stared with an angry look attached. Everyone in the room knew that Ace kind of worked alone and it had definitely showed since he met me. It was tough to admit that I was to be a team with him, but we really had no choice. Or at least I had no choice. I just couldn't quit and go home to my family, because they were all in the clutches of Wayne Alexander. I really felt helpless right now. I was lying in bed with so many injuries, I couldn't count and with my family miles away in some lair that we had no clue where the location was, I just wanted to pull my hair out because I was so frustrated and confused.

I wanted to be friends with Ace, I had no clue what he saw in me that made him dislike me as he did, but I wanted to make up and be a part of the team I signed up to be, even if that meant spending time with someone that was as equally as stubborn as I was.

"Teamwork is the only thing that will save my family," I replied sadly as I thought about my family trapped in the clutches of the enemy. It also made me sad knowing that he could do whatever he wished with them no matter what.

"I almost forgot about that. We need to come up with a plan to save Robin's family," Camino said, "Not fighting over who has better wits than the other."

Ace just nodded as if he regretted his comments he made about Robin.

"You can think about it when we go make an announcement to the public about our enemy," Greg stated sulkily, "We have to calm the people down."

Jonathan, Camino and Greg helped me into a wheelchair because the bullet wound made it difficult for me to walk. I was wheeled into a room very similar to the one that we took the plea from the Secretary of Defense, in the base back in England. Except for some minor changes here and there it looked relatively the same.

"Guys, I want Robin to give the announcement," Greg informed.

He handed me a slip of paper with the words to say on them. I began to get a little nervous a presenting to the United States and maybe even the world that they had no reason to panic that we were taking care of the issue. But I mustered up some courage and then soon I was on camera.

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, I am Robin Birdsong and I am an agent and representative of the agency S.A.L.T. I must inform you that these series of occurrences of disappearing government officials, is being dealt with by this very agency and we are trying to get it under control as we speak. In the meantime, we ask that the people not panic, but to remain in their homes until this situation is resolved completely. Thank you for cooperation and we will soon have everything back in order."

After I finished my nerves settled. It felt good to get that off my chest and hopefully not have to do that again. I then searched the room for Director Alexander. I wanted to give Wayne a message that he would never forget.

"Director, I would like to give Wayne a message. I believe that with it, we would have a better chance of finding him and ending all the chaos," I asked the director.

"Of course! We will record it first and then I will send it personally to him," Director helped.

They centered a camera on me and gave me a thumbs up when they were ready and filming.

"Wayne, I want you to know that your actions are not condoned and it will be met with appropriate force. My team and I are more than prepared to defeat your army and eventually you. I am not afraid of you and I want you to know, that I will do everything that I can to save my family by staying with my team. Because teamwork in the end is what is best and I choose to be a part of a team," As I spoke, Jonathan, Camino and surprisingly Ace came up behind me as if they had my back. I teamed with excitement as I felt that they were on my side wanting to help me. "We will track you down and end this once and for all!"

I signaled to end the video .

"Now once he tries to actually video us back with an answer, we can track him," I said confidently now knowing that my team now has my back.

"That is one of the smartest ideas!" Jonathan exclaimed, "I would have never thought of that!"

"Well after all, she is the computer expert of the group," Ace finished. I was surprised that he was even mentioned anything nice about me since we were not on great terms.

"She is a great asset to our team," Camino stated, "If it wasn't for we kind of have Jonathan as our leader, I would nominate Robin in a heartbeat."

"Thanks for the encouragement guys. But I am still struggling whether or not that threat to my family is something that I need to bother myself with."

"Being on a team that is seeking to end his crimes is the only way you can free them. And by not getting yourself caught or killed, is the best way to help your family right now," Director Alexander encouraged me.

I thought about it a while. I remembered my conversation with Jonathan that night after the threat was given and he eased my mind some, but when we saw the destruction that Wayne could give, it set that fear back in my heart. Knowing what he could do to my family if he wanted to just made me still unsure, but the encouragement of my team and new mentor made it better.

"Wait didn't we say a while back, we had a mole in the agency?" Jonathan remembered.

"Yes!" Camino and I shouted at the same time.

"Director, why can't we kill two birds with one stone? We can figure out who the mole is and find where Wayne's hideout is!" Jonathan exclaimed in an excited tone.

"That sounds like a good way to start," Greg encouraged, "But you do know that figuring out who he or she is requires us to head back to headquarters in England."

"Couldn't we do interviews of prospective people over this thing?" Ace asked as he gestured toward the screen in front of him.

"That is a smart idea! Let's do it!" Jonathan exclaimed.