Chapter 21

Cammie POV

It all happened so… slowly. One second Zach is talking with Draganov- he's stalling, I can tell- and then I'm thinking we're gonna make it, Liz is going to find us and then Draganov pulls out a gun and then…

And then…

Then there's a gunshot. Then there's Zach falling on the ground. Then there's someone's voice screaming Zach's name. I realize that it's my voice. But right now it seems so far away. My own voice is miles in the distance. There's a term for this, I think. An out-of-body experience? That's what happening right now.

My body is doing things my mind is not fully conscious of. Like raising my leg to kick the gun out of his hand. The gun that was now pointed at me. And then Draganov is unconscious and I'm really not sure how but I think I did it somehow. I'm a spy, my body was conditioned to do these things, even if I'm not really there.

Because I'm not. There, I mean. Where am I? I don't know. But I'm definitely not that girl who just knocked out Draganov in three well placed punches.

"Zach?" I ran over to his side and knelt down beside him. Suddenly the full force of the situation hit me and I was back. I didn't feel miles away anymore I felt like I was right here and somehow that was even more terrifying. Because this wasn't a very nice place to be.

"Zach…" I whispered, trying to check to see where the bullet hit. His eyes were closed. When he heard his name for the second time, one eye opened. There was a glint in his eye.

That's when I saw it. The smirk.

"That was fun." He sat up effortlessly. I was gaping. I replayed the events in my head.

Yeah, he was definitely shot. I totally saw that happen.

Zach took advantage of my stupor to kiss me like there was no tomorrow. Literally. He just grabbed my face, pulled me down to his level, and started kissing the crap out of me. I was just too shocked to kiss back. I pulled back. "How…?"

His smirk widened and he started to unbutton his shirt, revealing a bullet proof vest. "Bulletproof vest sweetheart." His shirt was ripped where the bullet penetrated, and there was a little redness and bruising where the bullet should have hit him, but he was otherwise unharmed.

"Are you okay?" He was rubbing his chest like he was sore, but other than that he looked fine.

"Yup,"

"Good." I hit him upside the head.

"Ow Gallagher Girl! What was that for?" What a baby. I barely touched him.

"One, giving me a heart attack, two not helping me when I had to knock Draganov unconscious, three for not giving me a bulletproof vest also, and four for SMIRKING." I ticked off the reasons on my hands. "To name a few."

He was silent for a moment. "Wow. My smirking really bothers you, doesn't it?" He looked thoughtful. "I suppose I'll have to do it more often then."

I think this is what they call "digging your own grave".

"Besides," He continued. "It's not like you haven't given me many heart attacks before. How many times is it that I've saved your life before? Like, twelve?"

I rolled my eyes. "Two, Zach. It's been two times."

"Oh, right." He nodded his head. "So, does this mean I have your permission from now on to smack you around every time you have a near-death experience?"

I waved my hand dismissively, my mind now focused on other things. "Yeah, yeah, sure." I told him, not really aware what I was agreeing to.

We still haven't solved the "how-the-hell-do-we-get-out-of-here" problem. It had occurred to me that Draganov had to have come from somewhere. He wasn't in the room when we first got here. Logically, if he came in that way… we can get out the same way. Right?

"Cammie!" Zach yelled, waving his hand in front of my face.

"Huh?" I replied intelligently, making eye contact with him.

He huffed at me. "Geez, I've been calling your name for about five minutes. Where did you go just now?"

Instead of an answer, I just ran to the sides of the room and started running my hands along them. "There has to be a secret passageway somewhere. Draganov can't just beam himself in here… if we can find that… we can get out." I rambled on purposelessly.

Zach seemed to figure it out though, because he started looking for exits as well. I was in my element now, having spent the majority of my childhood ducking in and out of the secret passageways at Gallagher. The bricks on the walls seemed to be in a constant pattern, but eventually I got to a brick that looked a bit smaller than the others.

I didn't say anything at first, just tracing my finger around the outline of the brick and pushing the palm of my hand into it. It collapsed under my touch, the brick moving away silently to reveal a (you guessed it) secret route.

I called Zach and we went down the alleyway together. It led us up a few flights of stairs until it finally opened to the roof. "Well, this is helpful." Zach said sarcastically. "On one hand, we're now out of the room in which we had no way to get out, but on the other hand, we are now on a roof in which we have no way to get out."

"Stop being grumpy. It's an improvement." He was just jealous because I found the passageway and he didn't. What a drama queen.

I walked to the edge of the building to see if there was a ladder or something else we could use to get down. And then I did something really stupid.

I slipped.

I yelped and one of my hands caught on one of the bricks that bumped out from the side of the building. I could feel the bricks cut into the palm of my hand, but no matter how deep it cut, I had a death grip on that brick. I would never let go of it. If I fell from this height, there was no question. I would die.

I saw the top of Zach's head peer over from the side of the building. I saw panic in his expression for one second before…

Smirk.

The nerve of that boy… I just want to smack it off his face. Or kiss it off. Or both.

"Give me your hand." He said, reaching down for me. Was he insane?

"I can't do that!" I nearly shrieked. His hand was still way too far away to reach. I would have to attempt to swing myself, than use the momentum to grab his hand. And maybe even then I might not be able to reach it.

"Why not? I thought you were a Gallagher Girl."

"Zach! Gallagher Girl and super human are not synonymous."

"Try." He commanded.

I sighed and tried, not getting it. It only succeeded in hurting the hand that was holding onto the brick more. He looked at me patiently, unconcerned.

"Try again."

Infuriating boy. "Stop smirking Goddamnit!" I screamed at him.

In my rage, I swung my hand around and it made contact with his. His forearm flexed as he pulled me up to him. He wrapped me into his arms as my feet touched the concrete roof. "God, I hate you right now." I informed him breathlessly, but returning the hug anyway.

He breathed deeply into my hair. "God…" He started in the same tone that I had used.

"I love you right now." He ended.

A/N: I really like this chapter. Review please? Thanks for all the support!