It looked like she was about to say something, until she fell to the floor, shrieking. Her hand untangled from mine and I crumpled down with her, on my knees.

Shit.

Now? Really?

I looked up to see my mother holding a little device with a red button it, smirking.

Zach's POV

I picked Cammie up into my arms and stood. She wrapped her arms around my neck and buried her face in my shirt.

"I'm sorry...I'm sorry," Cammie whispered.

"It's not your fault," I glared at my mother. "Stop pressing that damn button! That's what's making her head hurt, isn't it?"

"Oh, Zach. I'm glad you caught on," my mother taunted.

I growled.

"Give me my friends back," I glanced at them. They were starting to come conscious, twitching every so often. Maybe if I stall for long enough, they'll come to and help me.

"Where would the fun be in that, Zachy dear?" My mother's sickly sweet voice rang through the room, her laughter echoing around in my head. I set my jaw, grinding my teeth in frustration.

"This isn't supposed to be fun. Nothing about the spy world is fun. This is serious," I felt like the adult here, not my mother.

"Oh, what's life without a little fun?" She smirked. I blinked and looked down. I almost jumped, and my tight on Cammie tightened. Tristan and Grant's bright eyes were open, alert and staring at me. I nodded at them, almost imperceptibly. Bex woke up, then. She looked confused and scared for a moment, but quickly took in the situation.

My mother pressed the button again, laughing. Cammie tightened her grip on my neck, crying out in pain. I saw Bex, Grant, and Tristan's bodies tense up and they slowly started to sit up. I shook my head. I looked at Macey, Liz and Jonas.

Wait for them to wake up.

I sent through my eyes. Bex nodded and started shaking Macey.

My mother and her Circle agents were discussing something – and they had stepped away from my friends, who were sprawled out on the floor.

Idiots.

I almost smirked, but I made sure to keep my face completely blank. I looked down at Cammie.

We seriously needed to get that chip out of her, fast.

I set her down on the floor behind me. Macey and Liz and Jonas were awake now. Right as they were about to spring up, my mother whirled around and looked at me.

"Now. As my workers and I were just discussing, there are three options. Option one: Give us Cammie, no fighting. Option two is you and Cammie come with us. Option three is we take your friends back, and that chase begins all over again."

"How about option number four?" I finally smirked, and shouted, "Go!"

They sprung up from the floor, evil grins on their faces. I had to laugh – only we would be grinning while being attacked by thiry-seven full grown men and women.

But we immediately became serious, knowing it was our job to protect Cammie. The air was full of flying hair, roundhouse kicks, grunting, blood, sweat, tears, agents being flipped over our shoulder, panting, and screams. I punched a guy in the jaw, then grabbed his shoulder, using him as a platform to push myself off of my feet. I flipped over his shoulder and kicked down on the agent behind him, sending them both to the floor.

I saw Bex slide in-between an agent's legs, grabbing their leg so they would fall down with her. She took that time to swing that agent around on the floor, while the agent was still on their back, people tripping over their body.

Grant and Macey were standing in front of Cammie, who was still in pain. This was the longest one that had ever lasted – probably because my damn mother kept pressing the button. I looked around for her, but her flaming red hair was lost in the crowd of agents and my friends. I heard Lizzie cry out in pain, and I jumped up, looking for her.

She was on the ground, at Circle agent's feet. I shouted and sprinted over, knocking the guy down onto his ass.

"Touch her again, and you will be sorry." I growled in his ear. I grabbed a gun that slid by on the floor and knocked it against his head, knocking him out. I helped Liz up and grabbed her hand, steering her behind Grant and Macey.

I plopped her down beside Cammie. "Stay here and...comfort her," I commanded. She nodded.

"Thanks, Zach."

I went back into the fight. It was lasting forever – they might be bigger, but we're faster and never scared.

Suddenly, someone shrieked.

"Stop!" We all froze – don't ask my why, but we did. There was something behind the voice that was commanding, powerful, gorgeous.

"Cammie, what are you doing?" Tristan muttered.

"We need to stop fighting," Cam said through clenched teeth. "Because from the looks of it, we're just going to keep on fighting and fighting until we wear ourselves out. Nobody is going to win."

Her face was sweating, her hands trembling, but her eyes held pure determination.

And that was when I knew, this was the end of the battle.

This was the day the everlasting war was going to come to a finish.

"We know that's not true. We will win, we will fight." Bex growled.

"Bex," Cammie smiled gently. "Don't you get it? This isn't your fight. This is my fight. And this fight? If one of us doesn't give in, it's never going to end. Both sides are too equal in power."

"Are you saying you give in, Cam?" Jonas asked quietly.

Cammie stared at him. We all stared at her.

"No," she said firmly. I could tell her head was still hurting, because she was getting paler by the second. "I'm not giving in. I'm just stopping the fighting."

"Oh, naïve little Cammie." my mother cackled. "We're spies, dearie, fighting is what we're trained for. It's what we do."

"Yes, we fight. We train. But there are other ways to solve problems than fighting. Because admit it, Mrs. Goode. If I kept up a fight, you would never have gotten the information you wanted from me alive." Cammie retorted.

My mother raised her eyebrows. "Is that a challenge? I mean, you're the one with a throbbing head right now, sprawled out on the floor."

I finally walked over and pulled Cam to her feet, letting her support herself on me. Her shaking hand clutched mine, and I squeezed it gently.

"Why can't we make a compromise? I'll give you some information if you just...tell me what you want to do with it," Cammie pleaded.

"The world isn't full of magic and rainbows and roses, Morgan," My mom was frustrated now. No more useless teasing. "We are spies. It's either all or nothing."

"Then I guess you're getting nothing, then."

My mother paused, considering her options.

"And don't you dare lie, because I know when a person is lying." Cammie said. Suddenly, the door opened.

And who to think but Joe Solomon and Cammie's mom run in the room. Cammie laughed in delight.

"Mom! Mr. Solomon!" She grinned.

They stared at her. "...Cammie...there are Circle agents scattered around you on the floor, some are still conscious, and you're talking to the woman who wants to capture you. Why the hell are you guys just standing here talking?" Mr. Solomon exclaimed.

"She's 'stopping the violence'." Tristan shrugged, making air quotes with his fingers. Cammie nodded vigorously, which made her groan, and hold her head.

"Can you at least turn off the damn chip in her head?" I snapped, steadying a light-headed Cammie. My mother smirked.

"I control when they come on, not when they come off."

We all turned and glowered at her. She shrugged. "It'll probably stop in a couple of minutes, anyway."

Cammie sat down again, coughing.

"My vision's getting blurry..." she mumbled. I sat down next to her and she leaned her head on my shoulder, shutting her eyes. We all stared at her in sympathy. It was a good thing her eyes were shut, because she hates pity.

Suddenly, I was a flash of blonde hair.

Liz?

Liz was walking quietly as a fairy behind Mrs. Goode. It was one of her hidden talents – sneaking up on people. She was so light and skinny and little that you barely noticed her, except for her bright, long blonde hair. She quickly and quietly pulled the red button out of my mother's back pocket, and walked casually away. For some reason, the eight Circle members still conscious didn't notice her either, even though she was weaving in and out of them.

"Did you even plan on figuring out how to get the thing out of her head?" I asked.

She smirked.

"The only way to get rid of the chip is to destroy the button, which would destroy the chip."

Liz stared at the button, wide-eyed.

"Do it, Liz!" We all cried out at once. She flung it onto the floor and smashed into it with her heel. Cammie's eyes flew open in shock and she shrieked. The chip must be breaking. Liz stepped on it again, and for the half-second her foot was off the button, I saw that it was an irregular shape now, small chunks of metal and wire flying out of it, sparks flying around her foot.

"NO!" my mother cried, trying to get it back. But Mr. Solomon and Ms. Morgan held her back. Liz went into the bathroom and filled up the sink, and then dropped it in. Then she whirled around, and all of our eyes were on Cammie.

She was clutching her head, panting heavily.

Suddenly, she opened her eyes.

"Zach?" Her hand waved randomly in the air, and I grabbed it, confused. She was looking straight ahead.

"Cammie? Look at me."

"I...what? Zach, I...I can't see."

My heartbeat accelerated, and I quickly brought my hand up and tilted her face so I could study her eyes. Her eyes were open, and they were blank and staring, their gorgeous blue turning into a murky grey color.

Cammie was blind.

AHAHA, I bet you guys didn't see that one coming, did you? :] Thank you guys so much for all of your reviews! I loved them...they were so sweet.[:

I really hope you liked this chapter – I'll update soon.