Chapter 20

The crowd was surging out through the main entrance round the corner from where the band were; everyone of them was astonished to find dozens of police cruisers parked messily across the road, almost filling up the entire street. 'Police' (who waved to Julia and Claire inconspicuously) waved them along, announcing there was a problem in the Swallows Leisure Centre, nothing to worry about. Teens still crowded round and gabbled animatedly amongst their selves at the sight of the enormous arrest taking place. The band and the girls made their way over to where the Boss of their organisation stood. He grinned and shook hands with all six of them.

"Let me just be the first to congratulate you girls. And you guys! Apparently you knocked out a few yourselves."

"You should've seen the guy Andy kicked!" Julia interrupted. "Looked like a hippo standing up from the size and looks of him!"

Joe burst out laughing.

"Well you all did fantastic!" he went on.

Suddenly a horn blasted behind him; the band jumped a little and the girls blinked. The Boss, as ever, stayed cool and composed and swung round to see a huge bus trundling up the road, herded along by the fellow agents.

The girls seemed to suddenly stop breathing as the bus tyres screeched almost as loud as the enormous amount of fans behind them. The Boss looked back and nodded his head.

"I'm sure you don't want to go through paper work, so we'll sort that out. I want you to stop by the Medic though," he continued sternly.

The band shuffled.

"Actually we're okay, we didn't really get hurt that much," Pete answered in a quiet voice, distracted by the bus behind the Boss.

The Boss's eyebrows crossed, but one look from the band who really did look fine, made him shrug and call the Medic over. The Medic, a nice-looking guy who smiled in a friendly way, checked the band over quickly in an expert way and shrugged.

"They seem fine Boss," he commented; the band sighed.

The Boss nodded and thanked him before the Medic trotted back over to see how the henchmen were holding up.

"Well…" he stopped and shook their hands once more. "I'm sure you're desperate to get out of this country so you don't get involved in anything as stupid as our missions, huh?"

The band blinked and looked down at the tense girls.

"It hasn't been so bad," Patrick said softly, not able to look away from Claire.

The Boss raised an eyebrow but didn't push it further. Stepping to the side, he allowed three people to rush through.

"What…the…hell!" one of them hissed as soon as he was close enough.

All four guys blinked; they were pretty used to English accents now.

"You just saunter off to England, without telling anyone?" He glanced round at the arrested henchmen and the girls under two of guys' arms. "What the hell is going on here anyway!"

Pete sighed.

"Spur-of-the-moment, you know how these things are. We tried to call but the networks aren't that great when connecting to America. We just needed a few days to think of our next single and we decided to go to a small town for a little peace and quiet to think. I dunno, we maybe got too caught up in it and decided to do a venue here so that we could let the fans here celebrate first – you know how it is."

His Manager stared at him with his mouth open before he looked at Pete like he was insane.

"Well…just…just don't do that again," he responded in a calmer voice. "You scared the hell out of a lot of people back home."

Pete nodded and hung his head a little in 'shame'.

"Sorry," they all muttered.

'Mental Note – find out if they learnt that from us' Julia thought to herself; it looked like Claire was thinking the same thing. The three new guys made their way slowly back to the waiting bus, looking back to see if the band were following.

The girls tried to remember to breathe calmly as the guys faced them reluctantly.

"Well…" Andy stopped. "Thanks for everything. Seriously, don't know what we would've done without you girls."

"Yeah, it's been…long." The girls smiled at Pete. "But…y'know, ups and downs all the way. You girls have definitely been an 'up'."

They smiled wider and Julia high-fived him, cringing slightly when she realized too late she'd hurt her hand.

The two smiled at the remaining four and pointedly look away before walking toward the bus and their Manager. Joe and Patrick stared after them, not really seeing them, just dreading the next few moments.

They turned to look at the girls, reluctantly pulling their arms away from their sides. Nobody said anything and nobody moved. Julia fidgeted a bit out of habit – she didn't like silences. Especially awkward silences…like this.

"Um—"

"I can't belie…"

"Yeah…I guess-…"

"Mhm…it's umm…it's been…"

They all stared at each other uncomfortably. The bus horn tooted loudly again. Nobody made any movement though. Patrick sighed unhappily and looked up at Claire through his fringe. Her bottom lip trembled and she rushed forward to hug him. Joe stuck his hands in his pockets and bit his lip to stop himself going all gooey and saying something that would embarrass Julia. She stared at his shoes her eyes glazed over, as if she'd gone on 'Emotional Shutdown' – she didn't say anything when Pete called to them. Just as Joe turned to face Pete, Julia threw herself forwards into his arms. He hugged her back a little in shock; he wasn't about to leave, he was just going to ask for a few more seconds of awkward silence.

The couples separated, Patrick and Claire holding hands, before the two guys departed, walking into the gloomy darkness, glancing back the whole way to see the girls standing there forlorn. They sighed as they reached the bus and climbed aboard, the driver jumping up and down in his seat, raring to go. They tried to look out the front window as the door closed, but the windows were tinted and they couldn't see through properly. They wandered over to a sofa connected to the wall of the bus under the large window and slumped down. Andy and Pete noticed their faces and attitudes straight away and stared at them sympathetically; they smiled gratefully and returned to their empty sadness. Their Manager on the other hand bounded up and down the bus exclaiming how stupid he thought the guys were but they were going home soon which was brilliant! The band mumbled along with him, not really listening, but thinking about the past week. The Manager and their Security Guard had to quickly speak to the driver as he got ready to pull away from the road; he was reversing and trying to go down the one-way street, allowed for once by the police. Andy and Pete waited until they were at the front of the bus before talking in low voices to Patrick and Joe.

"You guys okay?"

They nodded obediently. Pete sighed.

"I'm sorry guys."

"Me too."

They stayed silent.

"I know you liked the girls, much as you denied it, but…y'know, they've got their home here and their jobs, their families…everything. The same as you guys do back in America."

"Yeah, we're not saying it wouldn't work out, you guys would've done great with them…maybe it's just a little hard for them to leave their home country. They've spent their whole lives here. Hey, for all we know, you could see them again!"

The two lifted their heads slightly at that. Pete thought hard.

"Maybe…maybe the girls would've gone with you. I dunno…or you could've stayed here…" he sighed. "Nah, they wouldn't let you. I know that for sure. They'd tell you to go back home and leave all this crazy mess behind."

When the two still didn't answer, Pete and Andy leant back with a sigh. Maybe they'd get over it – they could find new girls they loved. Patrick's head lifted a little as he suddenly thought of something. Joe looked at him and like Patrick had sent it telepathically, he suddenly understood what he was thinking, without even asking. Yeah they knew the girls would make them go back to America and leave all this crazy mess behind – but would they leave it behind too? I mean, the guys thought the girls liked them as much as they liked them. It was a little confusing, but as they thought more about it, it didn't seem like such a crazy idea. Maybe the girls would love them so much they'd go with them. Maybe they wouldn't mind leaving their jobs behind, they would visit their family whenever they wanted. The guys became a little guilty as they thought it was a pretty demanding thought. But…maybe they wouldn't mind…if they loved them enough, would they go back to America wi—

"Stop the bus!"

"Well I really, really am impressed girls!"

The two spies forced a convincing smile on their faces as their Boss complimented them and congratulated them over and over again.

"I mean, it takes a lot to take on 25 guys, and a specially trained, once-was-an-agent prick, and I really am impressed by your work!"

The girls smiled again and cursed as their cuts stung from the antiseptics.

"Sorry," the Medic mumbled cringing.

The two had been sent straight to the Medic table as soon as the whole band was onboard the bus. They had more cuts and bruises than they remembered being inflicted but they didn't care; this wasn't the worst thing that had happened to them on their missions. Once they had been checked for anything that would need to be treated the girls jumped up from the table only half-enthusiastically and stood in front of the Boss. The black bus revved its engine and pulled into the car park of the library next to the Wyvern Hall. Claire sighed depressed whilst Julia shutdown again to avoid doing something stupid.

"I've never seen such dedicated, professional work before. You're right Claire; we do get 150% out of you."

He stopped and frowned at them, suddenly seeing the sad look etched on their faces. His face cleared as he remembered the farewells exchanged between them and the two members of the band. Now he understood why they were upset.

"Listen girls," he began softly with feeling. They tore their gaze away from the departing bus and looked at him. "I know how hard it is to get close to someone and then have to see them go. I know everyone always says you shouldn't get attached but…well, I am sorry this happened."

The girls gave him tiny, genuine smiles; suddenly they all froze and looked round.

The sound of the bus's tyres screeched to a halt and the door slammed open. Even from here, the girls could see two dark silhouettes stumble out of the bus and fall to the floor. Their hearts raced as the two figures picked their selves up and raced back toward them. The Boss smiled at the girls' happy faces and stepped back a bit as the people off the bus ran toward them. It was obvious who it was but it still shocked the girls when the light from a streetlamp illuminated their faces. They were just about to ask what was going on when Patrick and Joe reached them out of breath, grabbed them in their arms and kissed them right there and then in front of all their colleagues and the remaining few dozens of fans. Their fellow agents whooped and clapped jokily as their eyes widened in shock. Then they suddenly realized what was going on and closed their eyes, throwing their arms around the guys' necks. A few more seconds passed before the couples separated. Patrick and Joe grinned at the light-headed girls before drawing in breath. Maybe they should've caught their breath before they tried to do anything else. The girls swayed slightly off-balance.

"Screw your dreams," Julia said slowly to Claire. "I'm taking reality."

Claire laughed giddily and struggled to remain upright. Was she always this light-headed? Or was it the sudden pink air around her? Wait, that wasn't supposed to be that colour…or any colour at all. Claire shook her head feebly whilst the two guys got their breath back.

"Will…you…*gasp*…okay, hang…on…"

Julia had to stop herself from snorting with laughter whilst Claire smiled at their attempt to talk properly. Finally they sucked in a deep breath and seemed to be fine again. They reached out and clasped the girls' hands in theirs.

"Claire..." Patrick began, staring at her. She gazed back and he seemed to lose his train of thought.

"Come back to America with us," Joe exclaimed.

The girls' eyes opened wide.

"Wha-…bu-…ta-…"

"Julia, you sound like you're trying to say Warburton's," Claire mumbled jokily in a shaky voice.

"Look, we both know we haven't known you that long, but it feels like it. Like you've been our friends for years or something like that. But…" Joe bit his lip and quickly pondered on how to finish his sentence.

"This is gonna sound weird, but…I seriously think I've fallen in love with you Claire." Patrick waited for her reaction.

"I love you too Julia."

The guys glanced at each other quickly worriedly; the girls hadn't said anything yet. Julia blinked and her face became blank. Claire looked back at Patrick and suddenly swayed backwards slightly. He gripped her arms tighter and pulled her upright. Julia suddenly giggled once, but it sounded hysterical. She clapped her hand over her mouth as Joe laughed; she couldn't hide the smile on her face.

"You…you're joking aren't you?" She scrutinized his face as he smiled back.

"C'mon, I thought you two were supposed to be good at telling when someone's lying or not. Does it seriously look like I'm lying? Or Patrick?"

The girls looked at each other with broad smiles before they returned their gaze to the two guys in front of them.

"And…you seriously…wait, what was the first question?"

The guys laughed.

"Will you go to America with us?"

"If you don't, I'm staying here; I don't wanna leave you now I know you Claire," Patrick added slyly.

"No!" the girls yelled by accident.

"There is no way, not a chance…that you aren't going back to America!" Claire argued back.

"Well I dunno," Joe said with a cheeky grin. "I'm getting used to England; it's a good idea to stay here."

"Joseph Mark Trohman," Julia began in a threatening voice. "If you think that coming to a crappy place like England is gonna win me over, think again pal!"

"We can't leave you now, not with our messages of love!"

Claire seemed to struggle with her words.

"Well…then of course we're going to America with you!"

Her statement shocked her friend a little but she nodded in agreement.

"We're not leaving you! No way!"

"You're stuck now, you're not losing us so fast! We'll follow you wherever you go!"

The guys grinned like elves again; the spies ground their teeth.

"No seriously, I really like England…yeah; I think we should stay here!"

"Patrick Martin Vaughn-Stump!" Claire lurched forward and tried to push him backwards. "We are getting on that bus and going back to America; don't think you're the only ones in love here!"

Patrick stared at her in amusement and joy whilst she realized what she said. She turned scarlet.

"Well it's true…I love you too," she mumbled incoherently.

Joe and Julia looked away from them to each other; she shrugged with fake-nonchalance.

"Well…I guess…I really love you too," she said with a sigh of mock-weariness, grinning up at him.

He grinned back just as happy.

The girls had forgotten there was a street full of fans, colleagues, Pete and Andy cheering in the distance…and their Boss. Cringing, they looked over at him guiltily. The light shone on his place like he was an angel; the girls hoped he would act like one too. Staring at the two couples, he sighed and shook his head as if his answer was the most obvious thing in the world.

"You think I'm going to let my two best agents run off to some far-away country just because they're in love?"

He laughed as the guys pulled them closer and glared at him.

"I'm not evil enough to not let you go. So…whatever makes you happy makes me happy."

There was a silence as the four thought over his words quickly before it finally sunk in. When it did Julia leapt into the air with a 'WOOHOO!' with Joe catching her halfway in the jump. He laughed with her and set her back down, wrapping his arms around her in a bear hug. The second they'd realized what he meant, Patrick and Claire had hugged each other so tightly, and he'd planted a kiss on the tip of her nose. She giggled and kissed him properly. The whole street erupted in a cheer as the four thanked the Boss and skipped down the road to the waiting bus, to start their new lives…