A/N: Sorry for the wait, I was hoping to have this out earlier but we have guests and I had to be polite. Anyways, please make me very happy and fill my inbox with reviews for when I get back from my friends party. This was a little tough to write at times and it took a long time but I'm happy with how it turned out. This is the longest chapter so far because I had a lot to cover but the story's really starting to move now and I can see the ending looming in the near future. Enjoy :D
This chapter is dedicated to .For.U who pointed out that I have been neglecting the Zach/Cammie and Bex/Grant relationship in the past few chapters and Alice4112 who reminded me to have fun with it. I've been putting to much attention on the end result and been forgetting to enjoy the ride. You'll realize the irony after you read ;) Anyways you're probably getting annoyed that I won't shut up so I'll let you start reading just don't forget to REVIEW! :D
Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the amazing Ally Carter and other important people own the characters.
last chapter recap: Cam and Zach were both confined to the hotel room but as annoying as it was it turned out to be a good thing because they were able to talk. It turns out that Zach never deleted Cam from his contacts even though he knew that it didn't work anymore which is kind of weird but also sweet. Cammie got a mysterious letter and decided to meet the person who totally freaked her friends out and Grant became twenty bucks richer thanks to Zach and Bex. And that's what you missed if you didn't read last chapter. This last chapter recap was inspired by Glee!
Covert operations are supposed to be about not being you. It's supposed to be an escape from your life. But every once in awhile you have to accept that that is not always going to be the case. Sometimes you have to forget about your cover legend and instead embrace the part of yourself that is not a cover, just a legend. You have to remember the part of your life that you don't get paid for even though, in a lot of cases, people really should get some compensation for what they have to put up with. Over the next few days I was going to have to remember the semi-honest part of my life and even though it sucked more than being held hostage praying that my team would hurry the hell up so that I didn't get killed and then having them arrive at the last minute saying that they got lost and...well…you get the idea. It may have been hard at times but in the end I wouldn't change a thing. Except maybe Grant and Bex's huge PDA session, but that comes later.
I took a deep breath and tried to steady my pulse. Once I was sure I had my emotions under control I nodded at her and said in a calm voice that betrayed none of my fear or surprise;
"Mrs. Goode. Long time no see."
"Indeed." She replied. "You've grown up quite a lot in the last few years. I have to admit, I was a bit surprised to hear that your relationship with my son was no longer. If you were going to break up our family the least you could have done is made it worth it for him."
"Zach would have left with or without me," I told her coolly. "He wasn't cut out for the COC."
"No, I am afraid that you are wrong there my dear. He would have made a great addition. Of course visiting Gallagher didn't turn out quite as I had hoped," she said, her voice pondering. "You see, until he went to Gallagher and met you he never paid much attention to our business. Of course he also got closer to your beloved Mr. Solomon who turned him against us. And when we asked him to deliver you to us he refused and was on the run."
"I'm aware of his history," I told her, being careful to keep the anger out of my voice.
"I thought that it was just some teenage rebellion." She continued ignoring me. "But then he decided to get all chivalrous and help you—the damsel in distress. Ah well. Things happen I suppose."
Ignoring her rib I got back to the point: "So I assume you are the one who sent me the note?"
"Now really, it's not good to go around admitting that you got an anonymous note. Anyone could pretend that they were the sender," she reprimanded, sounding like a mixture of my mom and Aunt Abby.
"So the next question would be why?" I said, ignoring her little life lesson.
"Well, for one, I haven't seen my son for five years which is far to long. For another, seeing you is always a pleasure."
"Do you honestly think that I'm going to believe your crap? If you wanted to see Zach you would have sent him the note. Now, you can either tell me what you want, aside from me dead, or I can leave right now. It's your choice."
"Very well," she said her voice tight. "But I can tell you right now that all of your assumptions are wrong. I do indeed want to see Zachary but if I had met with him directly he wouldn't have let me get a word out before trying to kill me. He has always been very protective of you, you see. Maybe it's just a young spy couple thing."
"We're not,"
"Not a couple anymore. I know. Let us get back to the point. You are trying to take down the France Fighters. I would like to help."
"Excuse me?"
"I already have a way in and there's no one there who knows my real motives so I'm a great asset to you."
I snorted. "And you're real motives are what? To take down the FF and turn over a new leaf in your life? Why in the world would I believe a word you just said?"
"Because right no I can be your partner on this or turn this city that you can't escape because of the Code Orange into your worst nightmare. That choice, my dear, is yours. Choose wisely." And with that she turned and walked away, leaving me shocked with a note that held the information for our next meeting.
"I still don't get it." Bex said taking another bite of her vanilla yogurt. "What was the point of her fake shooting you if she wanted to help us break in?"
"And why does she want to help us break in?" Grant added while giving Bex a foot massage.
"She wanted to get me alone but she was impulsive and sloppy. She had no idea my mom was there. She had probably been hoping that she would be able to run away and have me follow her. Then she could make her pitch and convince me that it was better for everyone if I let her help us and didn't turn her in. Plus, I would have had time to talk Zach around so that he wouldn't kill her." I thought aloud.
"When the in your face didn't work she changed to CIA mysterious." Zach finished, rubbing his still bruised face with his hand. His voice became guarded as he said, "we can't trust her."
"I'm not saying that she's changed her colors and is suddenly going to be some sort of angel," I started carefully, not wanting to push him to far yet. "But for now she's all we've got. She's our way in and as much as I hate to say this, we need an alliance inside. The only alternative is preparing for war with hundreds of people against us. We're good but not that good."
"She's right." Bex said. We all turned to look at Zach.
"It's your call man. She's your mom; it's only fair that you get the final say.
"You want to do this?" He asked looking at me.
"Not exactly but who knows if we'll get another chance like this? I think we need to take it while it's still an option." He didn't break my gaze for a few seconds and then put his head in his hands.
"We're going to need to find out where the meeting place is. We need to know what we're up against."
"I'm on it," Grant said pulling picking up my cell phone from the table. I smiled and skipped over to Zach, throwing my arms around his neck. I felt him relax slightly as he wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me onto his lap.
"Put her on speaker," Zach told Grant, resting his head over my shoulder.
"Hey Cam."
"Liz," I said exasperated. "What would you have done if I had been caught and the other side had taken my cell and was trying to contact everyone to see if they could figure out who I was?"
Zach, Bex, and Grant all groaned as Liz answered me the way she always does.
"Then I would have blown you cover and you would either be enduring a whole lot of torture or you would be dead right now."
"Exactly! So stop answering it like it's obviously me who's going to be calling!"
"But it is obviously going to be you!"
"But what if it's not and I get killed? I know you don't want that on your conscience."
"A, you're the one who always says 'what if's' can kill you and B, that's never happened before so it doesn't matter!"
"There's a first time for everything."
"You say that every time."
"Because it's true!"
Bex cleared her throat, cuing us both to shut up. "We need some info on a location: 187 Bonjour Ave. It's somewhere in Paris, I think, but,"
"Wait. You guys don't know Bonjour Ave?"
"Um should we?" I asked.
"It's where all the great exchanges from Paris went down. We learned about it way back at Gallagher." Bex and I looked at each other and her blank face matched mine. "It's got some pedestrian traffic, it's pretty open and there's a lake about a mile off the road. It's used a lot in hostile deals."
"In that case, maybe you should try and locate a new address for us. I think we should pay our new ally a visit." I said, squeezing Zach's hand in reassurance when I felt him start to tense again.
Liz located the address of the flat that Mrs. Goode was staying at and we had wasted no time scoping it out. Ideally you will have a few days to check it out and figure out the rhythm of those near by but I've begun to realize that nothing about this mission is ideal. And that is why an hour after Liz gave us the address I got a call from Bex saying that Mrs. Goode was ten miles away and Zach and I went in, unsure of how much time we had before she got back.
"Excuse me," I said to the guy at the desk.
"We don't need to ask the guy at the desk Sarah," Zach reprimanded in a perfect imitation of annoyance. Although, I think some of it may have been real. We had decided to play the annoying arguing customers to get by the desk (after a real argument of who got to play which part. I won obviously).
"I just want to make sure we're at the right place Sam. Now is this,"
"What you think I can't read directions?"
"I think that you should shut up before you get us in trouble again."
"Oh, so I'm the one who insisted on buying those shoes from Sacs and took half an hour trying to haggle the guy down,"
"Oh get over it. I got them for a steal,"
"A steal? They were one hundred dollars! Plus it made us miss the bus which is the whole reason we're in this mess!"
"Could you two please," the poor guy at the counter tried to cut us off, pushing his glasses up farther on his nose.
"We're in this mess because you can't read simple directions!"
"Listen!" the redhead secretary exclaimed. "This is a place for people to stay on vacation. If you were looking for the Costes then you have found it I'm just going to need you to tell me who you are looking for so I can sign you in."
"You see!" Zach yelled. "I told you I could find it!"
"I never said you couldn't find it I just said that we should ask so that we don't waste another hour of my life."
"Your life? Why is it only your life that matters here?"
"Shhh! Why don't you just head up and see if you can find the room?"
"Now that actually sounds like a good idea," I said, turning on my heel and marching out while Zach followed me like a lost puppy. Well, not really, but he did follow me.
"That skit never gets old," I told him with a grin.
"Not for you. I always have to play the loser." He grumbled but I could tell he was hiding a smile as well. As we continued walking trying to figure out which room was hers though I could feel him getting more nervous.
"Are you okay?" I finally asked after five minutes of peeking into rooms and looking for any signs of security. "You seem jumpy."
"I haven't seen my mom since I was eighteen. Let alone talked to her."
"I'm sure it won't be that bad."
"That bad," he repeated with a throaty laugh. "The last time I was doing a job with my mom she wanted me to kidnap you. In her eyes I dishonored the family name. It would have been less dishonorable to kill a million people than it was to join forces with the Morgan's."
"Well may be she's gotten over it and seen the error in her way. May be she wants to make amends and really wants to have a relationship with you again? She may not like what you did but you're still her son." He laughed again but this time it sounded genuine.
"No, you're thinking your mom here Cam. My mom would shoot me before she forgave me for going against her." I sighed, knowing that he was probably right.
Her door was obvious to the trained eye. She couldn't add a lot of security because then people would notice but a little camera and motion detector by the door will usually do the trick if you don't think that anyone can find you. We stopped at the door next to it which appeared to be empty, another good security measure, and I took out the lazar. If you can provide the camera with too much light it will be overloaded and shut down. People looking at it won't be able to tell what it was although most spy's suspect it.
After the camera was off we just had to disable the motion detector which isn't to hard with a pair of tweezers and a steady hand. Stepping into the room there were no cameras or listening devices that we could see but that wasn't much of a surprise; when you're holding top-secret meetings you don't want any records unless they are going to be kept in the most secure place in the USA; and even then you have to be careful.
"Would you please relax?" I practically begged Zach as he loosened his tie yet again. "Everything's going to be fine!"
"You don't know her like I do." He countered. "If everything's fine we will be very lucky. She's dangerous Gallagher Girl."
"Really? Because I thought that she joined terrorist groups, tortured people for fun, and was on the CIA's most wanted list because she was so innocent." Need I say my voice was dripping with sarcasm?
"Listen to me," he said earnestly turning my head so I was forced to meet his gaze. "I'm not talking about her ability, her connections or her incredible non-conscience. I'm talking about her. She's smart she's crafty and she's selfish. She cares about money and power and will do whatever she can to get what ever she has in her head.
"There's always going to be something she's not telling us. She's got to have some sort of ulterior motive or double crossing plan. There's something not right about this." His eyes didn't waver from mine, his voice didn't crack, and his hand didn't shake as it continued to cradle my chin. I looked at him pathetically unable to think of anything to say except 'damn you look hot' which I figured wasn't the best comment at this moment especially with the fact that Grant and Bex were both on com's with us and neither was saying anything, both just waiting for my answer. Finally, I collected my thoughts.
"Maybe she is maybe she isn't. Either way, we've got help from the inside now and that's what matters. You never know, she could honestly want to take them down. Maybe she's changed," I said optimistically.
Zach gave a throaty laugh. "God, you can be so innocent sometimes." I wasn't sure how to take that comment or how to respond but I felt slightly offended.
"Guys she's here and she's not alone." Bex announced. "You have to get out of there, now."
"We can't get out with out them all knowing we broke in." I pointed out whilst searching the room for a hiding place.
"Well figure something out and fast!"
"I have a clear shot at her," Grant's voice came through. "I could shoot them and we could just be done with her." He wasn't very enthusiastic about working with her either.
"There walking in," Bex sung in a nervous voice. I pulled out my com and shut them off, motioning for Zach to do the same. We didn't want to interfere with any frequencies they may be using. Glancing up I noticed the ceiling wasn't solid but had tiles that lifted up.
"Give me a boost," I whispered and pushed the tile directly above me out and climbing into the little attic like space before reaching down and hoisting Zach up, replacing the tile just as the door opened. We lay quietly for awhile and listened to them talk about seemingly unimportant things, making cracks at their co-workers that would seem unimportant to the average person but that I knew could come in handy.
As soon as they left we jumped down, startling Mrs. Goode as was our plan. Both of our guns were in gear and pointing at her but being a spy she merely smiled and went back to fixing her cup of herbal tea adding in some milk so that the snowman coffee cup was almost overflowing.
"Bit of a risk coming to my apartment is it not? You could have easily blown the entire mission," she pointed out.
"Weren't you the one who once told me 'risk is the reality we live'?" Zach asked.
"You remembered," she said with exaggerated fondness. "How touching. Now if only you had listened to what I told you earlier we wouldn't be in this situation."
"If you had the decency of a normal human being we wouldn't be here either," he shot back and Mrs. Goode sighed.
"Perhaps. But then again we are both criminals. I just happen to fend for myself while you get a government paycheck. A CIA agent may sound better but essentially it's the same thing."
"Why don't we all have a seat and talk logistics?" I suggested.
"What would you like to know?" She asked, crossing her long legs and sipping her drink.
"We need dates, times, covers," I began ticking off each item off on my fingers. "We need to know what supplies is needed as well as weakness points, building plans, casualties, and"
"What the catch is," Zach finished for me.
"I was actually going to say 'What's in it for you' but 'catch' works to," I said shooting him a look.
Mrs. Goode laughed. "Well, dates and times will come. Your covers will be assistants that I've brought in or captives, I'll leave that up to you. Supplies will come as we figure out a complete plan. Giving you building plans is not an option, casualties will be as many as are needed and weakness points…I need you to be more specific."
"I mean how it is best to hit them. Will we want to take out the leaders? Is there a time best for a bomb? Is there a metal detector and dim witted guards instead of security cameras?"
"There are multiple ways to hit them and I like the bomb idea personally. When your aunt and I were in Nigeria once, there was a group who had the U.S security plans for the president. Of course the CIA wanted us to steal them back but we decided to just take them out, that way they wouldn't have to do any extra work. It worked like a charm and got us a nice rep there as well." She told us with a nod.
"I'm surprised you didn't make a copy. You could have shot the president and been one step closer to power." Zach said dryly.
"I did think about it," his mom said earnestly. "But then I figured it would blow my cover at the CIA. Didn't matter in the end anyways. I got burned. Anyhow, this mission will be done on a need-to-know basis. I will,"
"You still haven't told us what's in it for you," Zach said.
"Well, my freedom for one thing. That is what I was going to say next as a matter of fact. I do not want to hear about any of this getting back to the CIA. They will not know that I am here, that I am helping you, that I am involved with the FF, or anything else. This stays as an off the record assignment. The two of you plus whatever back up you have now will be perfectly fine as long as you keep your mouth shut and your hands away from anything that could let others know where I am. One mistake and I will make sure that the informer and the informant are terminated."
"Fine." I said in a bored voice that successfully betrayed none of my annoyance or serious urge to punch her. "But do you have a bathroom? I think my blatters about two minutes from bursting."
"Down the hall. Second door on your left. And don't touch any of my stuff. I have precautions set up in my room." She warned.
As a spy you have to work with bad people. It's just a fact of the life we live. Sometimes you can be in control, sometimes you have to let them think they are in control, and sometimes they really are in control. But when you're dealing with another operative who has very similar training to your own it usually winds up being a silent battle of skill, intimidation, and one-upping.
You can't bug them or do surveillance easily. You can't expect to be able to poke around their house to find out more about them and you certainly can't risk getting caught doing any of those things because even if you don't trust them, even if they know you don't trust them, you can't let them know that you've done something which gives them adequate reason to distrust you. Until they have caught you red-handed there's usually a small part of them that does trust you and it's a spy's job to water that seed and never up root it. Which is why when I said that my blatter was about to burst I was being completely honest and getting to call Bex was merely a benefit of timing.
She picked up on the first ring. "Bex, it's me. I only have a minute before she starts getting suspicious."
"Cam! Thank god! How did you get out of that?" I could hear Grants voice in the background but it just sounded like gibberish.
"We hid in the ceiling but that's not important right now. I need you to set a radio bug for me. She's leaving everything that could possibly allow us to turn her in or not need her anymore out of our little info packet. She's too careful for us to try and set a normal bug in here."
"Alright but radio's a bit of a risk isn't it?"
"If you think of anything better be my guest. Her apartment is 230A. We disconnected the video camera but she'll probably reset it later today."
"Okay, I'll see what I can do. We'll have to get out fast in case it reacts though,"
"Don't worry; we'll play it off as though some one from the agency is getting suspicious if anything reacts.
"Alright then. We'll meet up with you guys later. Call me if you get yourself killed."
"Will do but it might take a little while for me to figure out how to work a cell phone whilst I'm dead," I joked washing my hands with the phone between my ear and shoulder.
As soon as the front door to the building closed Zach and I fell back against it.
"Your mom is exhausting," I told him.
"No kidding. I think my head is dizzy." We were silent for a minute.
"Did she really go on a mission in Nigeria with my aunt?" I asked.
He shrugged, "Probably. Unless she had a reason to lie? She could have-Damnit!" He snapped causing me to jump and hit my head. "Sorry. It's just she already has us questioning her honesty about an old mission that doesn't matter. She loves playing mind games and we're already letting her get in our heads. I need frozen yogurt. You want some?" He asked almost as an afterthought. I nodded.
"Can we get two cones please? One with vanilla and chocolate swirl and one with…" He trailed off waiting for me to finish.
"Umm…I'll have vanilla with hot fudge please." I told her.
"Don't worry about it," Zach said waving my money away.
"Are you sure?" I asked doubtfully but Zach paid anyway and continued licking his cone as we stepped outside.
"My treat."
"Thanks. And just to make it official, eating frozen yogurt in 40 degree weather is insane!" I told Zach who laughed.
"Yeah, it is," He agreed taking my ungloved and freezing hand that wasn't occupied with my cone. "So what do you want to do on this horrible, cold, and gloomy day?" He asked as we took in the gray sky littered with clouds that hid the sun. The streets were far from abandoned but not busy for Paris. I guess two o'clock on a day like today doesn't draw out a crowed.
We passed by the marquee where some new designer was supposed to be having a runway show in two weeks. Macey was hoping to convince Management to let her go despite the lockdown. She says that it's to keep an eye out for the Concealment & Disguise department but everyone who knows her knows that the real reason is to update her wardrobe.
"I don't know," I answered him as we passed through the moving men. They were all wearing matching blue and white shirts with black pants. I muttered apologies to a few guys as I accidentally ran into them but they all ignored me and continued working, looking straight ahead and acting as though we weren't there.
"Well that was rude," I complained as we stepped out of their little system.
"Okay, that's it my mouth is numb," Zach announced, dumping his cone in the trash. I followed suit.
"Right behind you," I told him just as the clouds broke open and rain began to poor. People in the streets began to run for cover pulling their jackets over their heads to try and stop their suits from getting ruined. Only a few had umbrellas. Zach started to pull me towards the awning of a near by building but I stopped him.
"A little water never hurt anyone," I teased him deliberately not adding 'you look hotter with wet hair anyways.' Instead we walked to a near by pond and watched as the water pelted the previously stilled water. He wrapped his arm around my shoulders as we reclined on the wet grass and after a few minutes I let my head fall onto his shoulder.
Somehow, Paris looked more beautiful in the rain. You could just make out the Eifel Tower in the distance through the thick shield of rain. We sat in silence and just let the rain wash away everything. All of the pain our meeting had brought back, all the memories it reminded us of, all of the everything that had been brought up. As the rain fell around me I felt like it was okay to breathe, okay to relax and let my guard down. No matter how much Zach had hurt me and how many times I had considered just going to his house and shooting him (remind me to thank Liz for never letting me carry out the plans I had hatched with Bex,) he was still Zach. He was still my friend, there to protect me if I fell and be with me through better and worse.
I never once doubted that if I called him and really, truly needed him, that he would come. I may never have called him out of fear of rejection but deep down I knew he would always be there for me. As the rain started to lessen and a rainbow began to form I smiled. We may still have been in danger and everything may not have been perfect, but, then again my life has never been perfect. My dad used to say that perfection was overrated; and that people spent so much time chasing the impossible that they forgot to enjoy the possible which was infinitely better.
As Zach slipped off his wet sweatshirt that was by some miracle not drenched on the inside and placed it around my shivering shoulders I decided that my dad was right. He was always right. It wasn't about finding the perfect person or having the perfect timing. It was about enjoying my life because you never know when it will end. Zach may not have been perfect but he was perfect for me. At that moment I knew what my mom had known all along: I had never stopped loving Zach and I probably never would. I guess I didn't take the most direct path to the acceptance and a lot of tears wouldn't have been shed, a lot of time wouldn't have been wasted if I had accepted it earlier but maybe time is what we needed.
Having the revelation now may not have been perfect timing but at that moment I didn't care. As the sun began to shine and the rainbow decorated the bright blue sky Zach brushed his lips over my head and the truth was lifted from my heart because I was finally ready to admit what I had been denying for years.
A/N: I think most people guessed right about who Cammie was meeting. Please review! I will love you if you do :D
Anonymous Review Replies:
.For.U: Sorry, for some reason it won't let me put your whole pen name. Thanks for the Cammie/Zach and Bex/Grant thing. The ending was inspired by you. I considered having them make out but decided it was to sudden. I'll get some Grant/Bex stuff in soon I hope although they're more background.
(didn't leave a pen name): thanks and let me know if you catch anything :)
Cat: haha I hope I didn't make you wait to long :D