Hey guys!
Thanks for the amazing reviews on the last chapter, i hope you enjoy this one :) If i'm honest, i have no idea where this story is going so if any of you have any ideas if you could leave a review or pm me that would be awesome :)
Enjoy!
The journey back home passed slowly for Zoe. Every part of her wanted to just curl up and rest against Dan, but Frank's warning was still forefront in her mind, and considering they were surrounded by 5 burly guards, who looked like butter wouldn't melt in their mouth, Zoe decided against it almost immediately.
After 3 hours of sitting in the back of a truck, Zoe was over the moon to see that they would soon be home. Anna's play was in half an hour and she'd promised she'd be there.
With a sigh, Zoe settled back in to her seat. Not long to go, she thought to herself.
Dan rang the doorbell of his house, trying to disguise a yawn. Zoe's sister's play had finished half an hour ago, and Zoe was spending the evening at Dan's because her foster parents were away on a mission.
The door opened.
"Dan!" The blonde was immediately engulfed in a giant bear hug from his mum, causing Zoe to smile. Dan pulled back with a rueful smile. "Hi mum."
Anita smiled at him before noticing Zoe stood there. She was also engulfed in a giant bear hug. "You've been looking after him then?" she teased. "Oh do come in both of you." she said, smiling. "Now Dan, your Aunt Rose and Uncle James are round for tea today and-"
Dan groaned. "But Uncle James is always so grumpy." he said, folding his arms. Anita looked at him sympathetically. "Yes i know love, but i didn't think you were going to be back and it would've been rude not to seeing as we haven't seen them for almost a year."
"I'm sure he'll be fine Dan." said Zoe reassuringly.
Dan rolled his eyes. "You haven't met him." But he looked slightly happier anyway.
"Aunt, Uncle, this is my girlfriend Zoe." Introduced Dan, him and Zoe sitting down at the table.
His mum raised her eyebrows. "About time." She muttered grinning at Dan and Zoe.
Dan rolled his eyes and a smile tugged at the corners of Zoe's mouth.
Dan's uncle James, however, narrowed his eyes at her.
Anita passed around the dishes before sitting down. "So how was the trip you two?" The three of them had to speak in code whenever other people were round.
Dan shrugged. "Hardwork."
Zoe put her fork down. "We had to be constantly on the lookout for...snakes..." She lied. "So that we wouldn't get bitten."
His aunt Rose smiled. "You don't have to speak in code. We know about Mi9."
Dan and Zoe looked at them in shock. "How?" Asked Dan.
His uncle reached into his pocket and pulled out an MI9 pass, still looking at Zoe in suspicion.
"You guys are famous in MI9. Aneisha, Tom, Dan and V95. Clone of the mastermind ey? Surprised they trusted you." The malice in his voice made Zoe shiver and Dan reached for her hand under the table. "Leave it Uncle." He said icily.
James put his fork down. "Well I was just saying. If I was in charge I wouldn't trust someone who was a clone of the most evil person ever. I mean, who knows with KORPS? She could've been working for them all along." He glared at Zoe.
"I said Leave it." Said Dan angrily.
Zoe looked at James; her eyes blazing. "Bring his clone gave me his strength, his memory and his skills. NOT his personality. I am loyal to MI9 and without our team Mi9 would be in a heck of a lot more trouble than it is now. We have saved your lives countless times and you don't even know it." She narrowed her eyes at him." so do your research before judging someone."
To her surprise, the man smiled in satisfaction. "Well she's feisty alright. That's good."
Dan frowned. "What are you talking about?"
His uncle smiled at him. "Being a spy is dangerous Daniel. You need someone who will look out for you."
Dan's anger spiked. "So that's what it was? A test?"
"Daniel you have to understand I was just-"
"No!" Dan cried angrily. "You can't just saunter in to my life and try to control me! I don't care that Zoe is the mastermind's clone, I just care about her. And do you know what? She's been a bigger support to me than you ever were and-"
"Dan..." Said Zoe, placing her hand on his thigh. "Just leave it."
Dan's mum shot her a grateful look as Dan calmed down pretty much instantly.
Silence filled the room as the 5 ate, apart the occasional screeching of Dans fork as he stabbed at his food angrily.
The tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife, so Zoe was glad when Dan's mum began talking about her garden and the different types of flowers.
Eventually though, the long journey down and the fact that she was still recovering got the better of her and she let out a yawn. "Sorry," she said apologetically, "Guess I'm still recovering."
Anita smiled at her kindly. "So what happened then? At the base."
Dan shot her a grateful look. "Zoe was...ill for about a week. She was in a coma for most of it."
Anita looked at Zoe in shock. "Oh my goodness! Oh honey are you ok?" She exclaimed.
Zoe smiled. "I'm fine. I wasn't the one who spent the entire week sitting by my bed and only eating when Aneisha threatened to slap me." She said, looking pointedly at a very sheepish Dan.
"Well you didn't think I was gonna leave you did you?"
She smiled at him, her eyes sparkling. "No, I guess not."
Anita cleared away their bowls with a knowing smile. "does anyone want a cuppa?"
James and Rose nodded. "That would be lovely."
Dan stood up. "We'll be in my room." Zoe followed him. "Thank you for the meal." She smiled. "It was lovely."
Once she had left the room Rose and Anita rounded on James. "What were you thinking of? Testing Zoe like that. " cried Anita. "She rarely talks about her past in KORPS to Dan; she hates it! And you bring it up at the dinner table to test her!"
James stuck to his guns. "Spying is dangerous and Daniel needs someone who will look out for him."
Rose sighed. "James you can tell just by looking at her that she'd do anything for him. Dan's wise enough to make his own choices and if he chooses Zoe then we shouldn't have to test that decision."
Dan took his phone out of his pocket and stared at it indecisively. Finally he picked it up. "I guess we'd better call them."
Zoe yawned and nodded sleepily. "Mmhmm..." She mumbled.
Dan sat on his bed and motioned for Zoe to sit on his lap; which she happily did, her eyes drooping slightly. Dan kissed the side of her head. "You need to stay awake remember? Doctor's orders." He reminded.
Zoe nodded, but made no move to try and stay awake. Dan kissed her head again, smiling slightly as she started awake. "Come on," he said gently, kissing her head again. "At least stay awake as I call frank."
Zoe nodded and Dan dialled the number quickly.
"Hi Frank, it's me. How are you guys?...Yeah, we're fine...would you like to speak to her?"
Dan passed the phone to Zoe with a smile. Soon she was chatting away happily and Dan was pleased to see that she wasn't looking as tired. Eventually, Zoe said goodbye and the call ended. As soon as the call ended Zoe let out a yawn and snuggled up against Dan, her arms round his waist. "So tired." She mumbled, her eyes closing shut.
Dan sighed. "Zoe you know you can't sleep too much. The doctors want you to try and get back into normality."
Zoe nodded and sat up, resting her head on his shoulder. Dan looked at her sympathetically as she tried desperately to stay awake.
There was a comfortable silence as Dan tried to think of how to phrase what he was going to say next.
He took a deep breath. "Zoe?'
"Yeah?" She said absentmindedly.
He ran a hand through his hair. "What was life like at SKUL?"
Zoe's attention snapped straight to him. "I..um-"
"You don't have to say if you don't want to." He said quickly.
She shook her head. "No it's fine. I-yeah." She trailed off.
"If i'm honest, compared to KORPS, it wasn't so bad. 3 meals a day, my own room, round the clock training. I just-...i wasn't allowed to do anything. the door was always locked and sometimes you could hear people in the torture chamber." she shivered then sighed. "But it could've been so much worse, and the Grandmaster was kind to me, generally. He was the one that gave me that book."
Dan raised an eyebrow. "So the grandmaster actually has a heart."
Zoe shrugged and yawned, looking at Dan pleadingly. "Just a quick sleep?"
Dan's resolve crumbled. "Fine. But this never happened." he smiled as she yawned again and snuggled up against him. "Yep." she mumbled sleepily. "Never happened..."
So that's it for today guys! Sorry Frank and the others aren't in this one, but they will definitely be in the next chapter :)
Review please!
