A/N: Hey humans! So sorry for the late chapter! I have been extremely busy with editing and rewriting and family stuff but I'm back! And I already have the next two chapters ready for you! As for this chapter, the story is going to take off here. This is where I feel like things will get a little more serious and the true depth of the situation will be stressed. We get some mystery and we'll see more of the past as well. I hope you enjoy it and tell me what you think!

P.S. Important message in my author's note at the end of this so please check that out!

xxx

Perilous

Chapter Eight

Cammie POV

"I remember,"

I stood up abruptly and left the passage, walking past the markings on the wall and out of the cell.

"Hey- wait!" Zach struggled to keep up with my fast-paced stride as I moved through the halls and up the stairs.

"Where are you going!?" He called, running after me.

"The car- we need to take this stuff with us!" I yelled, never turning back.

The metal doors slid open with a metallic creak, allowing me to pass.

Mice and bugs scurried out of sight as I strode past and out of the door, ignoring the fact that it was practically eroding.

"Cammie! Cammie, wait!"

"Keys, keys...where are the goddamn keys!?" I slammed my hands on the car door.

"Hey! Easy on the door! I have the keys. This is my car, remember?" Zach held up the keys in his hand, jogging the rest of the way to me.

"Give me the keys, now." When he didn't hand them over, I snatched them from his grasp and slid it into the keyhole. I crawled across the driver's seat to see into the back.

"Dammit, Cammie, what are you do-"

"Where the hell is your go-bag?" I asked.

He sighed. "In the trunk, why?"

I rolled my eyes, mumbling. "What type of spy keeps their fucking go-bag in the most difficult place to access..."

Climbing out of the car, I shoved Zach out of the way and made my way to the trunk.

"Cammie, chill out, what's up with y-"

"Shut the hell up, Zach! I'm trying to find something!"

Zach froze, watching expressionlessly as pushed aside different weapons and tools trying to find the backpack.

"Finally," I growled, picking up the bag and dumping out the contents.

Zach seemed to regain his senses and said, "Cammie, stop."

"No, Zach. We have to take this stuff with us."

"Cammie, no we don't. We can come back for this later."

At first, I ignored him, beginning to walk back toward the building. But he grabbed my waist in his hands and pulled me backward, turning me to face him.

"Stop, Cam." Zach took my hands in his and pulled me closer to him. "What happened?"

I didn't answer and instead kept my eyes trained to the ground.

"Cammie, you said 'I remember.' What did you remember?"

He used a finger to lift my chin and I was forced to look at him, failing to hide the tears forming in my eyes. "Cam...I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have brought you here."

Zach pushed my hair from my face and pulled me into him. I let out a sob as I cried into his shoulder.

I would curse myself for it later, but at that moment, I didn't care. I just wrapped my arms around him and let him hold me. I let myself be vulnerable for probably the first time in my life.

I wanted my memories back and even though I had suspected most of them weren't pretty, I hadn't been prepared for the worst.

But Zach was there for me. He pulled me out of my 5 minutes of insanity and let me cry.

The comforting words he whispered in my ear made me feel safe. His arms as he held me tight made me feel safe. His warmth and the steady beat of his heart in my ear made me feel safe. He made me feel safe.

It was the first time in 28 years that I had felt completely and utterly safe.

Zach POV

Pulling the car into park next to the hotel, I looked over at Cam's sleeping figure curled up in the passenger seat. She'd been crying for most of the drive before she finally fell asleep.

She didn't deserve that pain. She didn't deserve to feel that way, not for her entire life. She had been forced to be strong all this time but on the inside, she was just...broken.

And I really hoped I could pick up the pieces.

Sighing, I raised a hand and brushed some stray hairs from her face.

She was so unbelievably beautiful.

I slid my phone from my pocket and dialed a number. It rang only twice before the click.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Grant, I need your help."

"Why are you whispering? Oh shit, did you get captured?"

I rolled my eyes, my grip tightening around the phone. "No, you dumbass. Just come outside, I'm parked out front."

"Okay, on my way."

A few minutes later, he came jogging out of the lobby, looking around before his eyes landed on me standing outside the car.

"Hey, man. Where's the fire?" Grant ran a hand through that Greek god golden hair of his, squinting his eyes in the overwhelming brightness of my headlights in the dark of night.

I nodded my head at the car. "Trunk. I need you to get the two duffel bags from back there. Take them to my room. And be careful, it's fragile."

"Alright, cool."

I popped the trunk and he pushed it up, grabbing the two bags and coming back over to me.

"But why couldn't you do this yourself?" He asked.

"Because I have something much more fragile to carry." Opening the passenger seat, I revealed a still dormant Cammie, who he knew as Nightshade.

Grant's eyes widened. "What the hell happened to her?"

I rolled my eyes. I seemed to do that all too often around this goof. "Let's just say we took a walk down memory lane. The scenery wasn't as pretty as expected."

I lifted her into my arms carefully, as if she was made of glass. She shuddered in her sleep and made this adorable whine sound before her breaths evened out once again.

Smiling down at her, I began to walk and Grant followed behind with the bags.

We took the elevator and eventually reached our floor and found Cam and I's room.

I looked at Grant over my shoulder as I carried her over to the bed. "Just sit them down near the couch."

I heard a zipper noise. "What's in these, anywa-"

"Look in them and I'll shoot your ass." My voice was suddenly calm and threatening, not at all like my previous casual tone.

"Whoa, " He put his hands up in surrender, backing away. "Alright, chill man. It's cool, I'll just head back to my room, back to Bex. Call me if you need anything."

I nodded, calming once again.

Once the door shut behind him, I threw the comforters back and placed Cammie carefully on top of the sheets. I slowly pulled off her coat and lay it on the nightstand, assuming she wouldn't want to wear it while she was asleep.

It was in that moment that her eyes fluttered open, revealing those captivating sapphire orbs.

"Zach, " Her voice was soft and tired with sleep. One of her hands carefully gripped the sheets, slowly reaching out to me.

I kneeled next to the bed, carefully taking her hand in mine as I pushed countless blonde strands back from her face. "I'm here, everything's okay. Just go back to sleep. Everything will be fine, I promise."

She nodded before sitting up and placing a small kiss on my cheek.

All of my senses came alive in that one moment.

I could feel the soft texture of her hand holding mine, her lips on my cheek. I could smell her. Lavender. She smelled like a meadow of lavender. I could see every strand of that blonde hair, every streak of white and silver in those sapphire eyes.

It was a feeling I wasn't used to, but it was exhilarating.

But then she lay back down, her head softly hitting the pillow. Her smile was small as she looked up at me. "Thank you, Zach. For everything."

Then she closed her eyes and let sleep fall over her once again.

Cammie POV

Climbing out of the shower, I wrapped a towel around myself and dried off quickly.

After blow-drying my hair until it was only damp, I pushed toothpaste onto my toothbrush and shoved it into my mouth, brushing as I walked out into the room.

"Good morning to you," Zach said, pulling on jeans and a shirt.

I said "good morning" but it was muffled almost entirely considering the toothbrush.

"Do you want anything for breakfast?" He asked, dialing the number for room service.

I threw around the items in my suitcase, looking for something to wear. "Mm, m hmahel, macom, fuht, mm an cofme."

"So that's a bagel, bacon, fruit, and coffee. Uh, do you want anything on that bagel? And how do you take your coffee?"

Finally finding an outfit, I made my way back to the bathroom. "Mm, johm cwem cmeese mm da hmahel," I spit out the toothpaste. "Mm, and I like my coffee with extra cream, extra sugar, chocolate, and caramel with whipped cream with chocolate and caramel on top."

"Nice, alright that's a bagel with cream cheese, bacon, fruit, and coffee with extra cream, extra sugar, chocolate and caramel with whipped cream and chocolate and caramel on top," Zach said into the phone. "Yes, sir, and then I'd like two pieces of toast with sausage and a coffee, extra cream, and sugar with pumpkin spice and cinnamon? Yes sir, thank you. Alright, have a nice day." He set down the phone and said, "It should be here in about 15 minutes."

I nodded, running a brush through my hair. "Okay, thanks for ordering!"

"Anytime, princess."

"Don't call me princess," I glared at him out the open door of the bathroom.

"Whatever you say, princess."

Rolling my eyes, I tied my hair into a single braid laying across my shoulder before using light makeup and sliding in green contacts.

"Hey, Zach, can you throw me those jeans and the top that I set on the bed?"

"Heads up!" He called, just as the clothes came flying at me.

I slipped into the grey button-up long-sleeved bodysuit and pulled the jeans on over it. I paired that with a belt and some high-heeled boots. I looked like a local, which was nice.

"Uh, Cam?"

"Yeah?" I said, checking to make sure I looked nothing like me in the mirror. I had green eyes covered by dark small frame sunglasses, my outfit was very European and urban, my hair was braided, which was a style I rarely went for. Good. No one would suspect a thing.

"Can you help me with these contacts? I have an eye phobia so this isn't easy for me...And I don't know how to use a flat iron...so help, please." Zach admitted shamefully.

A smile lifted my lips as I swiveled, turning in his direction. "Aww, the big baby needs help with his disguise?" I walked toward him slowly. "Poor baby,"

I pouted as he handed me the contacts.

His eyes narrowed. "Haha, very funny."

I set down the contacts and picked up the flat iron, pushing him down into a sitting position.

As I started on his hair, there was a knock at the door.

"Come in!" Zach called.

And faster than we could blink, Grant spun Bex through the door, her laughs filling the near silence of our suite. When her rotation ceased, she grabbed his collar and pulled his mouth down to hers.

Zach looked up at me with wide eyes and I returned the expression.

When the couple finally pulled apart, Bex winked and said, "Stop being cute, or I'll be forced to retaliate."

As she walked away toward us, Grant bit his lip and said, "I hope you do,"

She smiled flirtatiously over her shoulder before looking at me. "Goodmorning, what're you two up to?"

"This Dofus doesn't know how to put in contacts or straighten his hair so I have to help him with his disguise." I mused, pulling a loc of his hair as the smell of burnt hair filled the room.

Zach rolled his eyes. "Yeah, whatever." Looking at Bex, he glanced a Grant, who was checking out the view of our balcony. "Perfection in paradise?"

Bex's smile brightened as she looked in his direction. "Yeah, we're doing well. Better than ever, really, and that's saying something considering we've been official for ten years."

I glanced at Grant to make sure he couldn't hear when I smirked at her and said, "Impatient?"

Her eyes snapped to me, widening slightly. "Impatient? No, why would I be impatient?"

I snorted. "Please, ten years of dating and no ring? Girl, anyone would be impatient."

She sighed, giving up the innocent act. "I know, right?" She flopped onto the bed with a groan. "I just wish he would bloody ask already. And it doesn't help that I feel like I'll be the last to get married, you know? I mean, Liz got married first and she hardly showed any interest in romantic relationships until Jonas. And Macey is engaged, which isn't surprising either I mean she's absolutely gorgeous, not to mention rich and famous. To be honest, I'm surprised she escaped an arranged marriage yet she's still getting married and I am still waiting. And I know he loves me and I love him and I thought it was clear we wanted to spend the rest of our lives together but, hello, ten years later and still, no ring!"

Bex grabbed one of the pillows and screamed her frustration out into it.

Looking down at Zach as I finished the last of his hair and gelling it back gently, I raised my eyebrows. "You know what you have to do, right?"

He smirked with a wink, standing up. "Of course, princess."

"Told you not to call me that,"

"Obviously, I'm ignoring it," He mused.

Rolling my eyes, I waved a hand. "Come on, time for the contacts."

Then again there was another knock at the door.

"Come in!" Zach called.

In walked Macey McHenry and her fiance, Nick, dressed in designer brands from head to toe.

"Goodmorning, everyone." Nick smiled and waved.

"What the hell happened to her?" Macey asked, pointing at Bex, who glared at her over the pillow and said, "Just let me drown in my misery,"

Leaning toward Macey, I whispered, "Still waiting for a ring,"

"Ah," She then nodded, understanding. "Bex, I told you not to wait this long. As beautiful Queen Bey said, 'If you like it, you should've put a ring on it.' You got to commit to it, or leave it. Let him know that you're done waiting, and make sure you get his attention."

Nick nodded. "For example, light his closet on fire." His eyes were suddenly trained on Macey, glaring.

She shrugged. "That's one way to do it."

I looked at Zach with raised eyebrows. "She lit his fucking closet on fire?"

He nodded. "Oh yeah, and she made a trail of clothes that led to his side of the bed, just to make sure that it woke him up."

"Wow. I think I'll have to take notes." Pretending like the comment never happened even after he said something about it, I picked up the contacts. "Alright, open wide."

After much difficulty because of his "eye phobia," I was finally able to get the contacts in.

"There," I ruffled his hair, kind of missing the curls. "You look nothing like you. Straight hair, brown contacts, London fashion...perfect. I'm no master in disguise but I have to say, I'm proud."

Macey, the literal master of disguise, looked him up and down and nodded in approval. "Nice. I've got to give it to you, Nightshade. You did well."

She held out her hand and I shook it, beaming with pride.

"But, wait, one last thing." Zach caught everyone's attention as he pulled something out of his pocket, knelt and opened the object, saying, "Nightshade, would you pretend to be married to me for the day?"

Everyone laughed as I rolled my eyes and snatched both rings from the box. "Just give me the fucking rings, you dork."

One was a silver band ringed with diamonds, the other was just a silver wedding band, and Zach had one to match.

Our food then came to the door, and after thanking room service, Zach and I began to eat as we formulated a plan for the day. That's when Grant joined the rest of us.

"Alright, now that that's done, everyone get comms." Zach gestured to an open box on the coffee table. He continued as we all connected and carefully hid our comms units. "Liz and Jonas have been outside Prince's house since before dawn, waiting for him to leave. We'll check with the to see what direction he's headed before we-"

Macey suddenly looked at her (but actually Aurora Prince's) phone, biting her lip. "Um, sorry Zach, but I think we have a change of plans."

"He wants to meet for brunch?" Zach raised his eyebrows.

Macey shrugged. "Apparently. He says he wants to catch up with his sister and her fiance before the gala."

I squinted at the phone screen. "Can we trust it?"

Bex slid her hands into her back pockets. "Seems genuine to me."

"Food is always genuine." Grant grinned.

Nick hit him on the back of the head. "Not when it's poison, dumbass."

"Oh, yeah..."

Zach nodded. "I think we can trust it." He touched a finger to his ear. "Hacker, do you read me? Bookworm?"

"Loud and clear, Shadow." Jonas' voice crackled in my ear.

"Nice, I need you two to keep an eye on Prince through the cameras. He wants to meet Aurora and Maximus for brunch, we need to make sure it's genuine."

"Aye aye, captain." Cam Liz's soft tone.

Zach clapped his hands. "Alright, everyone. In the meantime, let's head out. Everyone, stick to your covers. We're not going as our mission covers today, just civilians. But keep a low profile. We don't want to attract any unwanted attention. If you buy anything, pay in cash only. Use codenames when speaking on comms and just in case someone is watching, try to talk without moving your lips." He looked at each of us in turn, lingering on me the longest. I answered his unasked question with a small nod. His gaze then shifted back to the others. "Are we ready?"

Everyone nodded, double-checking to make sure they had weapons, disguises were good, and comms were working.

"Oh, and Nick, be nice to your brother in law, we don't need family feud while we're here."

Grinning, Nick put his hands up in surrender. "No promises,"

Chuckling, we all filed out the door, ready to assume our new identities.

My ears nearly bled when there was a loud, sudden crash over comms along with a small, "Oopsy daisy,"

Zach and I were walking through Greenwich Park.

We had gotten coffee and muffins at the cafe across the street from where Prince, "Aurora," and "Maximus" were eating brunch. The trio had then gone to the park to "admire the scenery," so Zach and I followed, sticking to the crowd.

"Shadow, Nightshade, where are you? I can't see you anywhere in Greenwich." Jonas' voice was suddenly loud and clear in my ear.

"What? You can't see us? That's impossible, we're walking right in the center of this chaos." Zach told him, barely moving his lips.

A smirk suddenly crawled across my lips.

"Well, apparently it is possible because you two are nowhere in sight."

Zach looked at me to make it look like he was talking to me when he said, "Good thing for our enemies, a bad thing for our allies. Why can't they see us?"

I rolled my eyes, hitting him lightly to appear as if I were teasing. "I'm more than just a murderer, you know. I'm a pretty good pavement artist too."

Winking, I grabbed his hand and pulled him along.

"Eyes on the target." There was a crackle as Grant spoke.

"Where, Apollo?" Zach asked quietly.

No response. Just static.

I cursed under my breath. "Duchess?"

There was static for a few more seconds before I heard Bex's voice. "On your ten, Nightshade."

Relaxing, Zach playfully spun me around so I could catch a glimpse of Macey, Nick, and Prince.

As he pulled me back in, Zach noticed something different in my eyes, even though I kept my expression one of a happily married woman who was enjoying a day out with her beloved.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"They're near the children. I saw them near the children. The younger ones- oldest is probably ten, youngest is seven. They're tossing a frisbee around, and Prince suddenly decided to join them." I hissed, keeping my tone and face casually.

His eyebrows furrowed only slightly. "What's wrong with that? He mingles with the children, it means the community trusts him. That gives us information."

Watching in the reflection of his eyes as Prince and "Aurora" gave each of the kids 15 pounds, I grabbed a fistful of his shirt threateningly. "They took me when I was eight. Eight, Zachary. I don't like the idea of people like him being around children."

Zach placed his hands on my shoulders before pulling me into a hug. "It's okay. We have eight eyes and ears on this guy. There is no way in hell he would risk taking a child in such a public vicinity. And if it turns out he is that stupid, we'll catch him in the act."

I nodded carefully, squeezing my eyes shut as I willed the memories to stay buried within my mind.

Pulling away from the embrace, I kissed him on the cheek as a woman would to her husband before taking his hand and continuing to walk across the grass.

xxx

A/N: I loved writing this chapter. It was a fun one, especially writing about the mission. Cammie is obviously a bit unsettled by what she's remembered, but it's a good thing that Zach is there for her. It's almost as if they're both experiencing it (the flashbacks) because most of it has been about each other. Them having to watch as the other got tortured. I can't even imagine. Well, clearly I can because I wrote it but you know. Everyone is growing closer, and Cam seems to be more comfortable with the team, so that's a small step toward rebuilding past friendships, but we still have a long way to go. Writing about the other characters' relationships and friendships is very fun lol I enjoyed Bex's little bit in this chapter. That will continue, by the way, so just know it's not the end.

Anyway, as for the important message. I have decided that my stories are going to go on hold for now. I have gotten many requests to focus on one story at a time or questions about when I plan to update the others. In response, I am choosing to focus on Perilous for the time being. Once this is finished you will see another one of my stories restart and that will be the main focus then. I have chosen to do this because, A, most of you are requesting this, and B, I am rewriting/replotting most of my stories anyway. After all of the review replies, you will see a list at the bottom. It will explain what stories I am rewriting or replotting.

Thank you all for reading my stories and being patient with me. I can't explain how much I love you guys you all make me cry happy tears. Thank you for reading this chapter, I made it a long one so I hope it makes up for the time it took me to upload it and I promise I promise I promise the next one will come soon. I will try to follow my previous, "one chapter per week" agreement, but considering I left you guys hanging for a while on this, I will try my best to update the next two chapters within a few days.

I love you all, thank you for reading!

P.S. I love replying to you guys, talking to you is really fun! Please PM or review I would love to talk to you all more!

boredboredboreddd: She remembers! So glad you're excited and I'm really happy you like the Zammie I added. There's not much in this chapter but there will be more to come! And oh yeah, when it comes to what she wants, Cammie takes no shit. And changing in front of Zach? Confidence, ladies and gentlemen. Glad you loved it!

BritshBombshell007: Whoops cliffhanger lol. It's okay that you haven't been active and I hope everything's okay, just glad to hear your feedback! And yay glad I could lift you up! You really are one of my favorites! And aww I'm so happy I'm becoming one of yours and so excited about what you think of the rest of this! P.S. I'm no better of a writer than you are 3 xxx

Duchess12: Bro I fucking love you, you match my energy so well. I can't express how fucking happy I am that you love the story! My mind is going in so many amazing places and I really can't wait for you to enjoy them! P.S. Cammie...memories...Zach...bracelet...you will love what's coming lol

Guest: Glad you loved the Zammie, hope you liked this update!

Guest: Hope you liked this update! Thanks for reading!

Archer5210: Yay so glad you love it, hope you enjoyed this chapter!

WorldBeliever: Yay I'm glad you liked it! You're just now reading the books, enjoy the journey! It's an amazing series! This fanfic won't give you many spoilers if any at all, so you don't have to worry. As for Zach and the bracelet, you'll see lol. Thanks for reading!

Airhead: Hey, thanks for reading! I'm glad you liked it! As for which stories I'm continuing or not, most of them I am, I will put a list at the very end of this. Some of them I am rewriting, some I'm editing, and in the process of continuing! Thanks for asking! P.S. Don't mind all the posted reviews it's alright lol

Alright, as for the list I promised, here it is:

Rewriting/Replotting & Renaming

How My Life Became A Modern Day Shakespeare Play

I Remind You You're Not Guilty You Remind Me I'm Not Alone

Invisible or Not? (more like editing than rewriting)

Job Mission or Chance at Love (already started, read the new chapters I've written so far please!)

Caramel (already started, read the new chapters I've written so far please!)

One Night Changed Everything

Ooh La La

u You Bring Out the Music in Me

Unsure but Probably Rewriting/Renaming

Never Fall In Love Again, Hopefully

It Started With TikTok

The Girl That Never Speaks

The Perfect Combination

So there's the list! Sorry if this disappoints any of you but it's been decided. I will post this on my other stories too because I know not all of you read this one. Again, thank you for reading my stories and for reading this chapter! Thank you all for reading my stories and giving so much positive feedback! I love you all and I hope you have a wonderful morning, evening, or night where ever you are in this beautiful world!

P.S. Thank you, thank you, thank you all for sticking by me for over two years, wow. I have been writing fanfiction since January 18th, 2019! And I have had all of you beautiful people following my stories ever since! I am extremely grateful for you all, and in favor of that, I have a proposal for you. Since Jan. 18th is when I published my very first fanfiction, I am wondering if you all would like me to publish a one-shot of a series/book of your choice (as long as I've read it) on that day of every year as a celebration. The way it would work is two weeks before January 18th I would ask you all to review or PM a series/book you would like me to do a one-shot of, and whatever series/book I have read and is mentioned most, I will post a one-shot on it! I would give you a week to input your suggestion and then I will decide, get to writing, and have it published on the 18th! Let me know in the reviews if you think I should do this or not.

In the meantime, good day/night!