Zoe is back, but she is different. Have her relationships with the team changed forever ? More surprises. Sorry it's been a while. We were away on holiday.
Some of the MI9 agents weren't quick enough to pull on their masks and they too fell into a trance. Fighting ceased. "Kill them ! Kill them all !" shrieked the Crime Minister, laughing maniacally. The KORPS agents turned to face her. Lorenzo held his breath.
The KORPS agents didn't respond to the Crime Minister's orders. She went wild with fury, grabbing one man by the shoulders and shaking him. "I said, kill them !" she screamed in a fury.
Lorenzo cleared his throat. "Why fight ?" he said softly but clearly. "Why fight, when you can dance ! Dance ! Dance !" he said in delight, waving his arms. Smiles grew on the faces of the dazed looking KORPS agents. They turned to one another and the astonished MI9 agents and started to waltz them around the room in a mad swirl of bodies. The MI9 agents who were wearing face masks couldn't stop themselves being swept away and began laughing.
The Crime Minister looked at Lorenzo in fury. "What do you think you are playing at, you stupid little man !" she spat. She took a step towards him, reaching out with her red-painted finger nails. They reminded Lorenzo of blood-stained claws and he gulped and stepped back.
"Lorenzo !" called out a voice. Keri was waving from the other side of the room. Lorenzo looked back to the Crime Minister who was nearly on him. He was about to turn and run in fright when the woman suddenly disappeared to the side, swept away by a happily smiling KORPS agent, twisting and turning her around the floor in a crazy, happy dance.
"Get off me you lunatic !" shouted the Crime Minister, squirming in the grip of the dancing agent. He only gripped her more tightly and turned her faster and faster around the floor. "Nooooo !" screamed the Crime Minister. Lorenzo looked at the others and smiled. He dodged between the happy dancers as he made his way across the floor.
"I am so happy to see you," he said in relief to Frank.
Frank smiled kindly at Lorenzo. "Well, I think you lived up to your end of the bargain Lorenzo. Would you care to join us ?" he asked. Lorenzo nodded. Frank clapped his hands together. "Right everyone. Let's get Dan and Aneisha to safety shall we and make sure they get looked after ?" announced Frank. The two stretchers were quickly picked up and carefully carried out of the building to a waiting ambulance.
Tom felt like the rest of the day passed in a blur. There were too many of them to travel in the ambulance with Dan and Aneisha so he sat fidgeting with Zoe and Keri in the back of an MI9 van. Frank wanted Keri to be checked at the MI9 hospital after being locked up in the KORPS cells and also having breathed in the hypnotic spray. Lorenzo had tried to remember the formula for the spray, but couldn't remember much more than the fact that they couldn't get the proportion of Deadly Nightshade correct. "To be honest, I would rather you didn't ever make it," said Lorenzo. "I wish I had never found out about the stuff, after what happened," he said tearfully.
Frank had looked at the man with some sympathy. "I'll see to it that any paperwork gets destroyed," he promised. "It's dangerous in the wrong hands."
"It's dangerous in the right hands," said Lorenzo. "I could have killed somebody ! I tried to weed out anyone who had a heart condition," he promised.
"Some people don't know they have a heart condition," pointed out Tom.
"Yes, you're right," agreed Lorenzo, looking guilty. "I'm so sorry, about your friends. I really am," he said sadly. "I hope they're all right."
"You did your best," said Tom reluctantly. There was no point in continuing to blame the man for his mistakes. KORPS were the real villains here.
Zoe meanwhile was sitting thinking about everything that had happened since she came back to St. Hearts. She glanced at Keri who was sitting looking worried and staring out of the window in silence. She seemed really close to Dan. Zoe couldn't think why this should matter so much to her. She'd been good friends with Dan, but it wasn't like he was her boyfriend or anything. She wondered if she would ever have a boyfriend. When she'd been part of the team, carrying out missions with the others, it had consumed her whole existence. Dan had always been there and he made her feel safe somehow. Since she had left to find her clones and make sure they were safe from KORPS, all that happened at St. Hearts seemed much less important. Dan seemed less important. She had read his texts and listened to his messages for a while, but then she had had to change phones for security reasons and she only got around to letting Tom know, because he helped her with information when she needed it. She hadn't needed Dan. The thought of him liking Keri now, made her feel angry with Keri.
Zoe shifted in her seat. This was ridiculous. Why should she care if Dan and Keri liked each other ? She had more important things to do. She had clones to save. Innocent people needed protection. Dan would understand that. She didn't know why he had got so upset in the cell though. She still felt a bit guilty about that. There had been something in his eyes, but she didn't know what it was. Maybe Aneisha would know. She was good at that sort of thing. Zoe didn't always understand people very well.
Finally, they arrived at the hospital and Frank, Tom and Keri leapt out, heading straight towards the doors. Zoe stepped out of the van and followed in their footsteps. She could read the urgency in the way the others walked. Again she started to feel detached from what was going on. Was there something wrong with her, she suddenly wondered. Should she be feeling the same as the others ? The people she cared about, the people who had been her only real friends for over a year were hurt. She should feel like Keri and Tom obviously did shouldn't she ? Tom had always liked Aneisha, although he covered it up with sarcastic remarks and jokes. Everyone seemed to expect her to be doing something different. What was it ?
They were told to wait in a large room with chairs. Zoe huffed and checked her phone for messages. Nothing. Keri was taken away for a checkup and then returned assuring Frank that everything was fine. The doctors were happy to discharge her. They went back to waiting. Tom fiddled with his Spy Pod and then his phone. Keri felt a lot calmer after seeing the doctors. They had told her quietly that the others should be fine and not to worry. "Tom, it's going to be Okay. Aneisha isn't going to text you," Keri said, gently teasing him.
"You don't know that !" protested Tom.
"Yes I do," Keri assured him. "The doctors all seem pretty calm to me," she explained.
"Doctors always seem calm. It's the worst thing about them," complained Tom, rubbing the hair on the back of his head. "The heart has stopped beating. We will now run 300 Volts through the patient's body," said Tom in a low monotone voice.
Keri laughed. "It's not like that and anyway, would you rather they were all running round like headless chickens screaming in panic ?" she asked.
"It's what I would be doing !" said Tom indignantly, resting his elbows on his knees and dropping his chin into his hands. "This is torture !" he groaned.
Keri reached over and rubbed his back sympathetically. "It's going to be Okay Tom," she murmured. "I know it," she said smiling at him.
Tom turned his head to look up at her. Keri caught the glistening of a tear in the corner of his eye. Tom rubbed it away and whispered, "I'm going to hold you to that."
The door opened and a doctor in a white coat came in. "You can come and see your friends now if you like," he said. He stood back to avoid colliding with Tom and Keri who shot past him into the corridor.
"Erm, thank you doctor," said Frank, straightening his tie. "Could you show us ?" he asked, tailing off.
The doctor led Frank and Zoe out into the hall where an embarrassed Keri and Tom were now waiting. "Em, we realised we don't know where they are," admitted Tom, red-faced. The doctor smiled in amusement and waved for them to follow. They followed politely, but were still clearly agitated.
They were shown into a room with two beds. Aneisha and Dan were lying in beds next to one another. Both were awake, but looked tired. "Ten minutes only please," instructed the doctor.
Tom ran over to Aneisha and hugged her tightly. "Oh, I'm so glad !" he gasped.
Aneisha kissed him on the forehead and looked at him fondly, while Keri couldn't contain herself any longer. She hopped around Aneisha's bed and wrapped her arms around Dan. He put his arms around Keri and the two sat silently hugging for several seconds, before they seemed to remember the others and broke apart in embarrassment.
Frank cleared his throat. "Aneisha, Dan, I'm so glad you're both all right," said Frank.
Keri reluctantly let go of Dan. As she stood back, Dan saw Zoe standing at the foot of his bed, looking confused.
"I'm glad you came to help Zoe," said Dan uncertainly. "I wanted to tell you something," he added.