(Frank's POV)
It's been ten minutes since the team and I found out that MI9's information database was hacked into and wiped out by the Magician. Everyone is in a state of panic – if the Magician sales the information, MI9 is done for. Stark has every agent available doing a wide scale search of the city searching for the Magician. Knowing that there's nothing we can do, we let Eve go – the woman who we thought was the Magician – and I drive the team to Oscar's house, as Rose and Carrie have told their parents that that's where they're spending the night.
The ride to the house is a silent one. I glance at Rose, who's sitting at the front passenger seat; her head is against the window, her eyes closed. I examine Carrie and Oscar in the rear-view mirror. Carrie is slumped in her seat, with her arms crossed and her eyes closed. Oscar is awake and looking out of the window, silent. I can't blame him – it's bad enough he has to go into hiding when his mother, Jade, betrayed MI9 for SKUL, now he'll have to go into hiding again if the information about him goes out. I don't fare much either. If I go into hiding, I'll never see Jenny again. I don't want to lose her. She's the best thing that's ever happened to me and I love her. If I disappear, she'll be devastated, as well as heartbroken. The thought of that makes me clutch the steering wheel so hard that my knuckles crack.
I hope the Magician will be found.
And soon.
Stopping at the traffic lights, my phone rings. Fishing it out, I answer.
"Hello?"
"Frank, get yourself down to Whitechapel," says Stark.
"What's happened?"
"MI9 has received an anonymous call saying that the Magician is hiding out in some building called Wilton's Music Hall. They say that the stolen fortunes and the information data are hidden there as well. We're gonna check it out."
Honk! Honk!
The sound of the car horn behind me causes Rose and Carrie to wake up with a start and Oscar to jump six inches, hitting his head in the process.
"We'll be there as soon as we can." I say, then hang up. I take off before the lights change and make a U-turn.
"What's going on?" says Carrie, stifling a huge yawn.
"We're heading to Whitechapel," I say, glancing at Carrie in the rear-view mirror, and then looking back at the road. "Stark has received an anonymous call saying that the Magician is hiding in a building called Wilton's Music Hall."
"I'll use my Spy-Pod to pinpoint the location," says Rose, immediately getting to work.
"What about the stolen fortunes and the information data?" Oscar asks.
"Stark says that they're there, too," I say. I hope they are. If we're being lead on a wild goose chase, then MI9 are finished.
xxoOoxx
About fifteen minutes later, we pull up to Ensign Street, where there's a row of black cars and vans parked along the road. We climb out of the car and follow a group of suited agents to a pedestrian alley called Graces Alley.
It's pandemonium! The alley is crowded with agents and SWAT officers. I ask one of the agents where I can find Stark. After the female agent tells me that he's in the Music Hall, the team and I push through the crowd to the open double doors. Once inside, we make our way to the stalls. Other than agents, the room is filled with the artefacts, paintings and on a large, broken table, the gems that that the Magician stole over the last few weeks. We move aside when we see the paramedics take someone out of the room on a stretcher. He's a SKUL henchman. Obviously in terrible pain, his face greeny-white, his fringe sticking to his sweaty forehead, his nose bloody and his leg in an odd angle.
"That's disgusting," says Carrie, her face looking nauseated.
"Is he even alive?" says Rose.
"Barely." We turn to find Stark coming towards us. "But I've been told by the paramedics that he's gonna be OK."
I nod. "So it looks like the anonymous caller was right about the Magician being here," I say. "Where is he?"
"He was taken away a few minutes before you got here. His real name is Randolph Miller – a former professional stage magician and hypnotist. We found him shaking like a leaf. You should've seen his face. Horrific-looking scars. He makes the Elephant Man look like Ryan Gosling… There's someone behind me, isn't there?"
The team and I nod. Stark reluctantly turns to face an angry-looking woman with short blonde hair and blue eyes.
"Ah…" Stark laughs nervously. "You, er… you didn't hear anything I just said… did you?"
"Hmph!" the woman huffs, shouldering past Stark and exiting the room.
"Turns out she did," I say.
Stark's face grows bright crimson with embarrassment as the Rose, Carrie and Oscar stifle their giggles.
"That's, er, that's Emma Jean McGowen," Stark says. "Miller's ex-fiancée and former stage magician assistant to him. We found her with Miller when we got there, along with a SKUL henchman – knocked out cold. He was taken away as well."
"Why do I get the feeling that it wasn't the woman who took out the Magician and the SKUL henchmen?" says Carrie. "I mean, come on! Who else can kick a man over a balcony that gets his leg in an odd angle, knock someone out in a single punch and use a stun gun on the bad guy?"
"So once again, the Cat gets ahead of us," says Oscar.
"She gets to play the hero again while we clean up the mess," says Rose.
"What makes you think it was the Cat who did this?" demands Stark.
"Sorry, I forgot to give you this." Emma Jean come backs in the room and fishes out a flash drive from her jeans pocket. She hands it to me.
"Oh, er, thanks," I say.
"The Cat says you're welcome." Narrowing her eyes at Stark, Emma Jean leaves the room.
"What is that?" Carrie asks.
Taking the flash drive from me, Rose plugs it into her Spy-Pod.
"No way! It's the information data!" she exclaims. "Looks like everything is here."
"It seems the Cat had everything to do with this," I say.
"Grrr… Dammit! Why are we always, always, always beaten to the punch by the Cat?!" Stark snaps. "This is an insult to the entire MI9 organization!"
"Let's just be grateful that the Cat stopped Randolph from giving highly-exclusive information to the Grandmaster. If it wasn't for her, MI9 would've been done for."
Everyone hesitates. They shrug.
"I… I suppose your right, Frank," says Oscar. "If SKUL had gotten their hands on the information data, we would've all had to move to the North Pole or something."
"Blue lips and frostbite do not work well with me," Carrie jokes. "But I am thankful that the Cat saved our bacon."
"I agree," says Rose.
We turn to Stark.
"Oh fine!" he huffs, crossing his arms over his chest. "This is the one time that I appreciate the Cat helping us out. But someday, I'm gonna unmask her and show the world who she really is."
"Right now, how about we return these irreplaceable objects to their rightful owners?" I say. "I'll return the flash drive back to HQ and drive Rose, Carrie and Oscar home."
Stark nods in agreement. I take the flash drive from Rose and lead her, Carrie and Oscar out of the building to the car. We pile in and head for Thames House – the main headquarters of MI9. When we arrive there, I upload the information data back into the computer and have Rose create an impenetrable firewall to stop anyone else from hacking into the database. When she's finished, we hop back into the car and drive the team to Oscar's house.
After a short while, I pull up outside the safe house. The team hop out and bid me a goodnight, waving at me when they enter the house. As soon as the door closes, I let a yawn. I look at my watch and it says 11:45 – that's quite late. Stifling another yawn, I start the engine and head home.
(Jenny's POV)
I get to St Hope's early on Monday morning. I left a note to Aunt Hermione saying that I've gone jogging when in actuality; I woke up very early to avoid Aunt Hermione's questions as to why my shoulders, arms and legs are bandaged up. I could say that a stray cat attacked me. But that would mean a trip to the hospital and getting an unnecessary tetanus shot. The only reason it's unnecessary is because I already received it from Zeke.
After I beat Randolph, I flew over to Zeke's place, where he cleaned and dressed my cuts. He also gave me antibiotics and let me crash for the night. After he gave me my shot on Sunday, he told me to rest for a bit while my cuts heal and he fixes me another catsuit. So all in all, I'm wrapped like a mummy, but at least I get a few days off missions. Meaning I have time to see The Great Gatsby with Frank.
And speaking of Frank, I spot him sitting on one of the benches along the walls near the entrance doors to the school. I make my way to him – only to find him sleeping. Damn, he is so cute. But I've got to wake him up. I don't want Aunt Hermione finding him like this.
"Frank?" I say gently.
No answer.
"Frank?" I say a little louder, gently shaking his shoulder.
He doesn't blink.
"Hmmmm," I hum. He's such a heavy sleeper… or is he? A sly smile creeps on my face. There's only one other way to wake him up.
I lean forward. My hand reaches up and slightly strokes his face. And then, as I slowly tilt his chin, I press my lips to his, softly at first, then harder.
As I start to back away, I'm startled to feel Frank slide his hands around the back of my neck and pull my head down towards his, causing our lips to crush together. His tongue delves into my mouth, urgently massaging my tongue.
When the kiss ends, we're both breathing hard. Our foreheads touching.
"Thought that might wake you up," I say.
"What can I say? I like to start my morning with a kiss," says Frank.
"You dork," I say – but I smile. I draw back and slide next to Frank on the bench. "So how was your weekend?"
"Quiet. Boring. Dull," he says. He turns to me. "You on the other hand – you look like you had a somewhat eventful night out on Saturday."
I frown in confusion.
"Your cheek." Frank points. "What's with the plaster?"
Damn, I forgot about that. How am I gonna explain this one?
"Oh, er, this?" I say, covering the plastered cheek with my hand. "Well, you know how it is on a night out. You drink, drink and drink some more, you get tipsy and suddenly, you end up drunkenly trying to befriend a stray cat and it scratches you on the cheek."
"A stray cat scratched you? Did you see a doctor? If you haven't, then you need to see one right now! For all you know, you may have come in contact with teta–"
I put my hand over his mouth.
"I went to the hospital yesterday. They gave me an injection and antibiotics," I say, not telling the truth, telling the truth.
"Oh, right. Well… good," Frank says.
"Frank, you don't have to worry about me. I'm a big girl. I can look after myself."
"I know. But you mean a lot to me, Jen. If anything did happen to you…" Frank pulls me against him until my head is resting against his shoulder. He rubs the top of my head with his cheek. "Sometimes, I'm just concerned about you, you know?"
I close my eyes and snuggle into his shoulder. Frank is such a sweetheart – so sensitive and caring… so nice.
Opening my eyes, I pull back and look into Frank's loving blue eyes and kiss him tenderly.
"I'm so lucky to have someone like you," I say.
Frank smiles. "Me, too." He gives me a kiss in the middle of my forehead.
I cosy up against his shoulder while Frank places his arm around my shoulders.
"Hey, Frank? Can we see The Great Gatsby tonight?" I ask. "I promise I won't cancel like last time."
"So long as I buy the popcorn," he says.
"Deal. Is 7:30 OK for us to meet?"
"It's a date."
We don't say anything after that. We just cuddle up together, watching the students and the teachers come in and wait for the school day to begin.