Chapter 11

Back at the CIA, Cat was in hysterics.

"Mr. Hale!" she screeched, tearing down the long tiled hallway. She felt as if she had never moved faster in her life, especially in heels. But Cat didn't care. All she could think about was the fact that Jade's life was on the line. "Mr. Hale!"

Cat burst into the supervisor's office and found him at his desk, doing paperwork.

"Cat, you know it's not proper protocol to barge into my room unannounced. I could have been-"

"Jade's in trouble!" the redhead blurted out, fear in her eyes.

"What?" Mr. Hale asked, now concerned.

"Jade's in trouble!" Cat repeated urgently. "She called me from inside Carver's lab. Someone tripped a siren and set her off. She was hysterical, pleading for my help, and then eventually wouldn't answer me and I heard other voices in the background!"

Mr. Hale remained silent for a moment. Then he spoke. "There's nothing we can do."

"But sir!" Cat protested.

"Cat, I'm serious. If Jade's as good of a spy as I think she is, she can figure this one out on her own. We can't do anything to help her as of this point, it's too dangerous."

"But sir!" Cat pleaded again. "She could be killed."

Mr. Hale sighed. "She took an oath, Cat," he said, looking into the smaller girl's brown eyes. "It's a risk all agents have to take."

Cat bit her lip, trying not to let tears fall.

Mr. Hale sighed. "I'm sorry, Cat."

The girl let out a strangled sob before turning and fleeing from the office.

/

Jade groaned, and opened her eyes. Her head felt like someone had slammed a brick into it. Or I fell on one, she thought to herself. Looking around, she found herself lying on a concrete floor in a cold, dark room. Pushing herself up to a sitting position, Jade looked around. Something in the corner caught her eye.

Beck was standing in the corner of the cell, leaning against the wall. His arms were crossed accusingly, his stare cold and unforgiving as he looked her right in the eye.

Anger flared up inside of Jade again. Before she knew it, she had pushed herself to her feet, marched across the cell, and slapped Beck across the face.

"You filthy LIAR!" she screeched at him, as his hand flew to his cheek.

Beck scoffed at her. "I could say the same for you, Natalia," he pointed out, rubbing his face.

"Big deal, I was undercover. You knew who I was, and acted like you had NO IDEA!" Jade yelled again, furious.

Beck seemed unfazed, cocking his head to the side in interest. "Are you really mad at me, Jade, or mad at yourself for getting caught and not guessing my real identity?"

Stupid bastard had hit it on the head. Jade let out a furious shriek and stomped to the other side of the cell, sliding down against the opposite wall to sit with her knees pulled to her chest.

"Why are you here?" she mumbled quietly, her voice sore.

Beck pushed himself off the wall and came forward. "Carver wanted to make sure your head wasn't seriously banged up. If it was, we would need to make some adjustments to the security program. So he told me to see if you woke up or not."

"Well, I'm glad your experimental design was successful," Jade said sarcastically, before putting her head between her knees and taking a deep breath. The pain was excruciating.

Beck watched her for a moment, before heading for the door to the cell. Without a word, he opened the door and exited, before letting it clang shut behind him. Jade didn't even look up.

Beck headed down the hallway before tramping up the concrete, winding stairwell to the lab upstairs. Only when his footsteps faded did Jade look up. The cell was dark. The room was cold. She was all alone. In a jail. In the enemy's lab.

She felt like a failure.