Caroline
When we found our way back to Ains, he was standing in the room I'd left him in, the unconscious bodies of KORPS agents scattered around him as he leaned against the table. His chest was heaving and he looked tired and I noticed that there was a cut through his eyebrow, but his brown eyes were alight with excitement and adrenaline.
Those same eyes flickered up as Camden, Vanessa and I stumbled into the room together, looking around in astonishment. I looked up at him, my mouth curved into a grin. "You did this?"
"Hostages are too much effort." Ains replied flippantly, smiling down at me. I must've cut my face at one point because he frowned, tracing a line on my temple. "Are you alright, Care?"
I grinned up at him. I was better than alright; my heart was still pumping adrenaline through my veins and I could feel it buzzing in my blood as it raced around my body. It occured to me that I was breathing heavily, like Ains, but I barely noticed. All I could really focus on was the adrenaline and the brown of Ains' eyes.
"You know the guy who sprained my wrist?" I asked him, smiling.
"Yeah . . ." Ains said, unsure of where this was going.
"I fought him." I said proudly, like I was a little kid announcing that they'd come first in a race against their friends.
"And who won?" Ains asked.
"Well, she's standing here completely unharmed, isn't she?" Vanessa asked, moving to stand beside me and wrapping one arm around my shoulders. I laughed delirously and placed my head on her shoulder, wrapping my arm around her waist.
"How's the adrenaline feel, Caroline?" Ains asked, as I closed my eyes and smiled.
"Amazing." I replied, almost dreamily. I opened my eyes in time to see Camden and Ains exchange knowing looks before Ains stood up straight, regarding me with unwavering brown eyes. "We should get back."
I tried not to feel disappointed at his lack of a comment at my triumph with an agent much bigger and stronger than I and I fought to keep it out of my expression as Vanessa and I let go of each other so that we could follow the guys out, carefully stepping over unconscious KORPS agents.
"So what happened?" I asked. "We were told you were captured; you were clearly free when I found you."
Camden glanced over at Vanessa. "We went in there and they captured us. We were in a cell for about an hour when a woman came in, took one look at me and then yelled at the guards that they'd grabbed the wrong boy. Then, they let us go and we ran into Caroline."
I noticed Ains throw Oscar a slightly panicked look. Before I had much time to puzzle over it, Oscar sighed, running a hand through his short blonde hair. "That's puzzling. Normally, they would have just killed you - you'd found a functioning KORPS base. I don't understand why they'd let you go." He glanced at Vanessa and Camden solemnly. "Describe the woman."
Instead of answering, Vanessa said, "I know who she was."
"The Crime Minister?" I asked. Camden threw me a surprised look and nodded, and I shrunk back into my chair, ducking my head so they wouldn't see my darkened cheeks.
"How did you know that, Caroline?" Oscar asked.
I lifted my head and shrugged. "My twin brother's an agent. He tells me stuff."
Oscar sighed again. "Just the fact that Crime Minister was there is worrying in itself. If she's involved enough to personally be there, they're planning something big." He turned to Ains. "How's Caroline's re-training going?"
"Good. We're about to move onto fighting moving opponents." Ains replied, smiling over at me.
"How much longer do you think you'll need with her?"
Ains shrugged. "A week at the most."
"You have that. After that, if she's not fieldwork ready, we're going to have to seriosuly reconsider Caroline Morgan as an agent."
With that, he walked out, leaving me staring after him. I could feel tears pricking at my eyes and I reached up to brush them away, jolting in surprise when Ains wrapped his arm around my shoulders and squeezed. I smiled up at him as he let me go and Vanessa moved to sit beside me. "That was mean."
I smiled at her half-heartedly. "He's only doing his job, Ness. And he probably thinks that if he can scare me into thinking my job's on the line, I'll push myself harder."
"He didn't have to be a dick about it." Camden muttered.
I gave him a small smile and said, "Maybe he's just not a people person."
"Is that Caroline-speak for 'Hi, my name's Oscar and I'm a dick'?" Camden asked. Vanessa laughed and I shook my head as Ains glowered at the floor, as if Camden's words offended him personally.
"Ains?" I asked, bumping my shoulder against his. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine." Ains muttered. Then, abruptly, he looked up at Camden and said, "You know, he could have just had a really difficult childhood."
Camden shrugged and looked away guiltily. "I know. I was just . . . Trying to make Care feel a bit better."
"Well next time, try not to do it as someone else's expense." Ains told him bitterly. He walked off into the training room without lookimg back and I nervously gave Vanessa and Camden an apologetic look before I took off after him, my feet sliding on the concrete flooring a little.
When the door to the training room shut behind me, Ains turned to look at me as I asked, "What the hell is your problem?"
Ains ignored my question. "Let's train."
"Are you serious?"
"Do you want to be an agent or not, Caroline Morgan?" Ains yelled, turning to face me. I stared at him for a long time before I moved to stand in front of him, my hands against my sides, ready to curl into fists. "What do you want me to do?"
