A/N: Last chapter! Quite a long one for me, so that's why it took a few days. It was hard to finish writing this since I've grown to love how they are in my story, but all good things must come to an end some day and that day is now. Read and review! 3
"Rachel," he smiled, reaching out to stroke her cheek. She leaned in and kissed him softly (parents kissing, gross), years of waiting finally ending. She moved away and let him speak, "I've waited so long to see you. Nine years without you - you thought I was dead, didn't you?" Mom nodded and bit her lip, emotions flooding through her.
"I never forgot you." she whispered, a tear rolling down her cheek.
Dad paused and looked over at me, "Cammie, you made it out alive." I did what any other teenage girl would do in my situation: I hugged him tightly.
"Daddy, you're back." I said into his shoulder, unable to hold back the tears, "I've missed you so much."
"You've grown up a lot since I last saw you," he laughed, "I hope you've been taught well in the clandestine services since I've been gone."
I nodded, "Mr Solomon's been great. Well, until he became a wanted man and got us both caught by the Circle, but you know the end of that story." I babbled, not knowing what I was saying exactly. "Abby's here." I stated obviously.
He looked towards her and frowned. "Abby, you weren't there for me in Rome. Where were you?"
Abby cringed, wanting to hide. "I'm so sorry Matt. I'm so so sorry."
He sighed and winced in pain, the movement irritating the bullet wound. "I could've died out there. I almost did. They captured me, Abby. They did things too excruciatingly painful that I can't describe. For nine year, nine long years."
"That's enough of a guilt trip, Mr Morgan." Townsend interrupted, putting an arm around Abby protectively.
"You must be Agent Edward Townsend, MI6. Before I was taken for, shall we say, intense questioning, people told me a lot about you - the spy too serious for his own good." dad spoke clearly, a smile growing on his lips.
Raising an eyebrow, Townsend was intrigued - his striking blue eyes glistening with interest. "What information were they trying to get from you? And what do you know about me?"
Dad coughed and whispered carefully, "They wanted to find out what I know, that's all I'll say. They want answers and they'll stop at nothing to get them." He stopped and mischievous glint appeared in his eyes, "I know about you from Abby and Joe. Mostly from Abby."
"Matt!" Aunt Abby squeaked, embarrassment breaking her voice, "Why does everyone keep mentioning Buenos Aires? It was one time and we were young!" Her cheeks burned pink as she found Townsend's hand around her waist now.
"That proves my point," said dad, laughing and gesturing towards how close they were together, "and nobody really mentioned Buenos Aires. Now, where's my partner in crime?"
Joe stepped out from behind mom and grinned, quickly hugging him. "I did what I promised I would do. I looked after your girls."
"He looked after Mrs Morgan alright." muttered Bex under her breath. Liz and Macey shared a look and burst into a fit of giggles, earning strange glances from everyone in the room.
"Cammie, so these are your friends?" asked dad, wondering whether or not to classify them as mentally unstable. He didn't ask about the comment and I didn't want to tell him, so it stayed unspoken. I nodded and he tilted his head to the right slightly. "Interesting. Judging by the accent and your tanned skin, you must be Abe's kid. Rebecca Baxter." Her eyes widened when he said her name - surprised at how he knew her already.
"How did you-" she started to say.
He pointed to himself in a Zach way and said, "Spy." He looked at Macey and smirked, "Macey McHenry. Daughter of Senator McHenry." He lowered his voice, saying, "Blood relative of Gillian Gallagher."
"Your dad is an amazing spy." she commented, "It's no wonder why people compare you to him."
"Now for the last of your friends," announced dad with a smile, "Let's see. A laptop by her side, so she must be good at encryption and decryption, slightly smaller than the others. Hmm. Elizabeth Sutton?"
"Wow! It's brilliant how you know me and I'm not even from a spy family!" beamed Liz, excited by the accurate guesses.
"Back to the topic at hand - what were you laughing at?" dad asked curiously, the spy in him wanting answers.
"It's nothing." Joe replied coolly, brushing off the question.
"Anything to do with how my wife is avoiding eye-contact with you?" he pointed out blankly, "What did you do this time, Joe?"
"I didn't do anything, I swear!" he laughed, "I've just been there for her when she was upset by your disappearance. She truly loves you Matt, don't question it."
He thought about it for a moment, figuring out whether to press on or not. "Okay, but if I find out that you've been secretly dating her or something, I will personally hunt you down and throw you off a cliff."
Joe gulped and took a step back, raising his hands in mock surrender, "No need to tell me twice. I learned that the first time we met." Oh great, another backstory I need to hear.
The room went quiet and I asked the one question dad would know the answer to - the one question that ate away at me for months. "What does the Circle want from me? Please, I have to know."
The words barely a whisper, "They want to know who the founders of the Circle were to kill their relatives. That's why they took me and that's why they want you."
"But I don't know anything about it!" I cried - it was true, I didn't even know they existed until last year. How could they believe that I knew whatever they wanted?
He cupped my face in his hands and looked directly at me, smiling a little, "Spying is in your blood, Cam. You do know, you just can't remember it." He kissed my forehead and said something so quiet that only I could hear, "The circus, Cammie, think of the circus."
We stayed in that position for a few short seconds, the faint memories appearing vividly in my mind. I gasped and stepped back - the list on the napkin. The names. The Circle were right - I did know what they needed. "Dad, why did you take the list? Why did tha-"
Before I could finish what I was saying, Joe pulled me away and dropped to the ground, protecting me from danger. He shouted, "Watch out!"
A bullet skimmed overhead, grazing Joe's arm. I stared at the woman in the doorway - Catherine Goode. Not again, I thought, I've had enough of this. She held a small gun in her hand, still aimed at the place I was standing. "C'mon Joe, we've had enough of your silly games. Either bring the girl or the man so we can leave."
A pained expression crossed his face for a fraction of a second, but long enough that I could see it. His breath was warm against my ear, the blood from the gunshot trickling down his arm onto me. "Cammie," he murmured, "when I get up and take you away, don't freak out. I've got a plan."
He stood up slowly then grabbed me by the waist, moving closer to Mrs Goode. "Oh, so you're co-operating with us now. Don't be shy Cameron, we just want to find out what's in here." she said, pointing to her head, "After that, you can return home like nothing ever happened." What's she going to do, wipe my memory or something?
Joe's grip tightened around me and I kicked the gun out of Mrs Goode's hands. He caught it and trained his sights on her, "How did you even get in here?" he said through gritted teeth, "Who's the mole feeding you information?"
She chuckled to herself, shaking her head. "There are many people in the CIA willing to give me the information I need. You just have to ask nicely whilst holding a gun." Walking towards dad carefully, the gun following her every move. "Shoot me if you want. It won't stop the rest of us from taking one of them away." She stroked his cheek, which made both him and mom freeze, "Did you really believe you'd get away? It was always a battle you couldn't win, Matthew."
He put down the gun (and me), then stepped in front of her. "You've done enough harm to the people in this room. Get out before I have to use my 'training' to deal with you."
"You used to be so loyal to us Joe. What happened?"
"Guilt. Nightmares. Lying to my best friends. I couldn't handle it," he seethed with rage, his emotions spilling over.
Mrs Goode closed the space between them, their surroundings forgotten, the truth slowly appearing, "Come back to us Joe, we need you. We could take over the whole of the Circle if you killed whoever's left running it. Take the girl with you since you care about her so much, I promise I won't kill her after she gives us the list."
Joe opened his mouth to answer, but she suddenly collapsed to the ground - a single bullet tearing through her chest. Liz screamed and started to gag. I quickly scanned the room to see who shot her, but no-one had a gun. Except for me. My hand shook in horror as it dawned on my that I had picked up the gun and shot her subconsciously. The gun clattered to the floor with me following suit. I did that? I thought to myself, How is that possible?
CIA agents rushed into the room, hearing the gunshot. They took the unconscious body away and saw the gun by my side. I saw the indecision in their face on whether or not to take me away, but I could faintly hear everyone shouting over my racing heartbeat. From what I can vaguely remember, mom picked me up before I passed out in her arms.
"What happened in the infirmary between the times of eleven thirty-seven a.m and twelve twenty-three p.m?" the man asked. It was a familiar - one that I've heard on several occasions. I mean, I wasn't supposed to hear it, but I did.
"Sir, the Circle infiltrated Langley at twelve fifth-teen and proceeded to kidnap my daughter for the second time this week. She shot her with her own gun - a Glock 18 to be precise." another man spoke. It was my dad and he kept me in his lap, smoothing my hair down (I stayed still to listen to the conversation).
"Do you know why she shot her?" the man questioned, impatience rising in his voice.
"Director, you should know the answer to that question. The Circle wants the list of original members to kill them. There must be a splinter team trying to overthrow them." he hinted. There was something else bothering him, but he didn't mention it.
"There's a lot of valuable information in the girl's head, wouldn't you agree?" the Director smiled suspiciously, "Why don't you leave her here at Langley so she'll always be protected?"
He shook his head, saying, "I don't think that's the best idea. She's safe at the Gallagher Academy."
"I don't think you understand," said the Director, pulling out a gun from his inside pocket, "Leave the girl. We need the list."
I stood up, facing the gun. "No. I'm not going with you."
"One of you will leave this room with me or one of you will die."
I turned to dad and he sighed in resignation, a look of defeat passing his face. "Cammie, I can't let you die. I'll have to go." He hugged me tightly and I felt small in his arms. "It's been so long. I'll miss you again." I cried silently into his shirt, the prospect of him leaving breaking my heart once more. "Cam, promise me you'll look after your mother. She's been through so much already."
"I promise daddy," I whispered, my voice faltering, "Promise me you'll come back some day?"
He hesitated and tilted my head up, "I'll try sweetheart, I'll try." He kissed my lightly on the forehead before stepping away, putting on a brave facade.
"Come on Matthew, let's get you back to the... interrogation room." He took out a pair of handcuffs and put them on dad. "It's been nice meeting you in person, Cameron. Too bad the next time will be to dispose of you. That is, of course, if your dad does tell us who we are going to murder." Pushing open the glass door that lead to a balcony, he strolled out. A very familiar helicopter hovered by the railings and he stepped in, taking dad away. "So long, Chameleon!" he shouted over the whir of the blades.
"Tell your mom that I love her." dad mouthed before the doors closed. Through the window, I saw him shed a single tear.
I watched as it disappeared in the distance and trudged out of the room. Mom, Aunt Abby, Joe and Townsend rushed to my side as I shut the door, tears streaming silently down my cheeks. "Where's your dad and the Director?" mom asked, the look of concern on her face upsetting me further.
"He's gone, mom. The Director took him to the Circle. He's gone!" I shouted, not being able to hold in my anger, "It should've been me, not him! It's always my fault!"
"Don't say that Cam. Do not say that. It's never your fault." soothed mom, pulling me into a warm embrace.
"They're going to kill him when they're done with him. I know it. They're going to kill me as well." I hiccuped, "Mom, do you want to know the last thing he said to me?" I looked up as I said that and she nodded, not trusting her own voice. "He said to tell you that he loves you."
We both stood there in the corridor, crying quietly. We knew there was a chance that he'd be taken away again, but it happened too soon. We needed each other now - I would keep my promise and look after mom. I clung onto the slither of hope that dad would keep his promise and return home. Some day he'll come back, even if just for a fleeting moment like today. He promised the same thing nine years ago and he fulfilled it. I just know that he'll do the same this time.
A/N: I hope you've enjoyed reading Capture the Chameleon as much as I have writing it. It's been great to see your response throughout, so I'd love it if you reviewed this as a whole. I'll be starting a new story soon (HINT: Buenos Aires), so if you add me to your favourite authors, you can be notified about it. Or y'know, you don't have to. :P