Apollo was sitting on one of the empty beds in the hospital, thinking about Artemis. It was good that she was unharmed, but he didn't know how long that would be for.
Katrina came into the room. "You said Kane wanted to talk to us?"
"Yeah," Apollo said. "He should be here soon." As if on cue, Kane stepped into the room.
"I think it's time I told you guys who my spy is," he sighed. "Sit down, Katrina."
Katrina did, and the two began to quietly listen to Kane. "Do you two know David Bringdown?" Kane asked.
"Well, not personally, but I know of him," Katrina replied.
"Well, he has a twin sister called Elouise. She is my spy."
"Ah." Katrina paused. "You said that she's your spy because of something you can offer her... What is it?"
"She desperately wants out of L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N. She was forced by her brother to join and stay, and she stays because I think she's scared of him. Or at least what he'd do to her. I don't know the details, but she stays against her will.
"I met her a couple of months ago in a chance encounter in Danville Park, and we told each other what we did for a living. She said she hated L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N. and would do anything to get out of there. I offered her a deal: she would relay information on L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N's activities to me, and in return, I would work on a plan to bring her out."
"Oh... The poor thing..." Katrina murmured.
"Well, she's been relaying information to me for three months now, and I think that's enough. It's time to bring her out. When we rescue Artemis, I'm taking her, too."
"And you said your brother, too, right?" Apollo asked curiously.
Kane nodded. "Yeah, if he wants to."
Apollo hesitated. "But if he willingly joined, why WOULD he want to?"
"Kirk...is lost. His ideals are different from mine, sure, but they're also different from LOVEMUFFIN's. He doesn't truly belong there, and I'm certain he knows it."
Katrina shook her head sadly and sympathetically. Kane looked at her. "What do you think of this, Katrina?"
"About your brother?" Katrina paused. "You're willing to take him back even though you're part of O.W.C.A, and he's currently part of L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N. I think he doesn't realize how lucky he is he's related to you."
Kane smiled. "Thank you. I hope Elouise can persuade him to leave."
(...)
Working together on the machine was now a bit more awkward for Elouise and Kirk than it had been originally. They kept sneaking glances at each other when the other wasn't looking. At one point, they accidentally touched each other's hands- it was a couple of hours ago, and Elouise's cheeks were still bright red.
Eventually, Kirk couldn't stand the silence, so he went and put the radio on. The music seemed to help them, and the machine was soon finished.
Kirk sighed in relief. "G-glad that's over..."
"Yeah," exhaled Elouise. "It was a lot of work."
Kirk then stood up and went over to the workbench. Elouise spotted him putting the laser gun on the table. "You're not going to use it on Rodney, right?" Elouise asked nervously.
"The ray? No."
She relaxed. "Wh-what made you change your mind?"
"You did."
Elouise blushed. "I-I... I didn't realize I had made that much of an impact."
"On this, you definitely did. Nobody deserves to be hit with a ray if I don't even know what it does." He fiddled with the laser gun.
Elouise sighed. "But should we really give it to Rodney? Maybe there's some sort of plan we could come up with or something..."
"Already have one." Kirk slipped the laser gun into a loop in the side of his jeans.
"What is it?"
Kirk didn't answer. Elouise watched as he headed out the room, with only the laser gun on him. "Kirk?"
He glanced back at her one final time. "Stay here."
Elouise watched fearfully as Kirk left, realizing now what he was going to do. And she had to stop him.
WHAT WILL HE DO?! I:} I:}