Chloe had never seen Kyra cry. She struck her as the type of person who wouldn't allow themselves to shed tears. But there Kyra was, fists tight at her sides and eyes shining. She let herself in.

"Kyra? What's wrong?"

The dark-haired girl leaned against the kitchen countertop. With her head lowered, she said nothing.

"Kyra? You're frightening me."

"Sorry. I just had to take a second," she said, Her voice strained with anger and hurt. She looked up, where Alex and Chloe were still in their ballroom clothes, and frowned.

"We'll explain later," Alex said, you first."

"It's my parents," she said, "MI6- Blunt and Jones- they told me they're gone. Dead. Have been for months. Apparently, they just 'didn't know how to tell' me before."

"Jesus…" Alex breathed, "I'm sorry."

"We all knew it," she spat, "I just don't understand why they would keep it from me from so long. I knew they were gone the moment they told me they were missing."

"Why tell you now?" Chloe wondered and joined Kyra on the countertop.

"They needed me for a mission and I gave them an ultimatum, like you. I said if they don't tell me the truth I'm leaving. I guess they're a bit thin on the ground for teenage agents so they decided to spill the beans."

"Do they know you're here?"

Kyra allowed herself a dry smile, "I doubt it. All that help I gave them in IT finally paid off. Before I left, I accessed the backdoor I put into their security systems. Every single camera they have hooked up to their servers is now streaming an episode of Mr Robot."

"You are terrifying and amazing," Chloe said.

"Thanks," she sighed. Suddenly, she was sombre again. Pain and hurt etched themselves into the lines of her face, "I thought I was ready to hear it. I thought I was prepared. But I'm just so pissed off. I'm so fucking angry."

Kyra allowed her friends to embrace her, though she still refused to allow the tears to fall.

"What do you want to do?" said Alex, "I'm guessing you didn't come to us for no reason."

"I want to make whoever did this pay."

"But Grief is dead," he noted.

"I'm glad he's dead," said Kyra bitterly, "but he's not the one who pulled the trigger."

"I think I know who did," Chloe said quietly. She wasn't sure if telling Kyra this was smart, but the girl couldn't have it handing over her head, "Alex and I saw a man at Point Blanc. He was Russian. His name was Yassen Gregorovitch. He's an extremely skilled assassin for hire. I think there's little doubt that he was working for Grief at the time."

Kyra absorbed this information with a pensive eye. Alex's sympathetic gaze shifted from one girl to the other.

"Yassen Gregorovitch…" Kyra whispered as if tasting the name on her tongue.

"And there's something else," Alex interjected, "he's in London right now."

"What?"

"You see… we know he's involved with the kidnappings, at least tangentially. He's been employed by the man we think is responsible. As security or for something else. We don't know yet."

Alex explained what had happened that night. About Mike Chapman, about Eagle, and Vaughn's request. Kyra was silent as he spoke, gears spinning in her mind.

When Alex had finished, she said, "I'll do it. I'll be the bait. I want to see his face and know that he did it."

"You're not thinking straight," Chloe reasoned, "he knows your face. You wouldn't get five feet from his before he shot you between the eyes. Besides, Vaughn thinks Alex is bringing me."

"Which is not going to happen," he reiterated from their earlier conversation, "there are too many unknowns."

Chloe bit her lip. An idea had been swirling around in her head for a while, she just didn't know if she was bold enough to go through with it.

"What is it?" Alex said, noticing that she had grown quiet.

"What if… what if we got help from MI6-"

"No way am I working with those arseholes again!" Kyra asserted.

"Just listen. It'll be a means to an end. Me and Alex could expose Vaughn while also getting closer to Yassen. MI6 will think they have us again, but our loyalties will only be to ourselves and each other. There's also the fact that I know Jones and Blunt are withholding information from us. Alex and I. Ever since I left, I've been regretting losing that link."

"Looks like we all have our mummy and daddy issues," Kyra laughed humourlessly, "I like that plan better. There's only one problem. What makes you think they'll take you back?"

"They have to," Alex said, "there's no other choice."

The three of them found themselves standing outside the derelict building that was headquarters. The broken, grey building on the barracks stood golem-like next to it. Chloe thought about her room there. Had they given it over to someone else yet? Had they painted over any evidence that she was there? She was waiting for someone to let them in, but no one was opening the doors. Chloe pulled out her phone and called Jones. Something told her the woman wouldn't have deleted her number.

"Yes?" came her business-like voice.

"It's me. Alex and Kyra are here too. We want to talk."

There was silence on the other end, then the doors shifted open smoothly.

"My office. Now." Jones said and hung up.

The girl greeted a few familiar faces on the way in. They gave her surprised but cheerful smiles. Gossip spread lightning-fast despite the secretive nature of the profession. By now, everyone would have found out about her outburst a few days prior. The security officers scowled at Kyra as they passed his booth. No doubt, he'd spent the whole day trying to sort out the breech. Jones' grey office was behind a set of grey doors. Through the window, Chloe could see two figures. She recognised Blunt's grey and winced. They hadn't exactly left on good terms. She recalled the word 'betrayal' being used. The girl squeezed Alex's hand before she entered. He squeezed back reassuringly.

"We got this."

The two directors hardly reacted to their presence. Two sets of impassive eyes watched them stop before Jones' desk, where she was sitting with her legs crossed. Blunt was standing straight-backed and stiff like a tin soldier. Chloe wondered if he ever relaxed.

"Long time no see," Chloe said with forced confidence.

"Yes. Hello," said Jones, "I understand you have something you wish to discuss?"

"More like we want to make a deal," Alex elaborated.

"How intriguing," Blunt said in a voice like a one-note instrument, "I'd like to hear why you think we should listen to a triad of teenagers that have no affiliation with us first. I seem to remember both of you quitting. And you, Kyra," he looked at her, "an impressive display of your skills, but a simple conversation would have been much more sensible."

"I owe nothing to you people," she scowled, "you destroyed any trust between us yourself."

Chloe tugged the other girl's sleeve. It wouldn't do to be overly aggressive.

"We want to work together. You were right, Jones," Chloe said, "we were in over our heads. The smartest thing to do now is join forces and take this guy down. I assume we have both zeroed in on the same person."

"Vaughn Morton," Blunt said, "so you noticed us at his charity event."

From his tone, Chloe knew that she hadn't noticed Eagle by chance. He wasn't surprised.

"I assume that it's information that you have to bargain with," said Jones.

"We're not telling you anything until we agree on a few things," Alex said firmly.

"What do you want?"

"Firstly, we all know that you are keeping secrets from us," Alex glared at Blunt, "about my parents. About my uncle."

"We want your word that you'll share anything you have on them with us," Chloe said, "and you won't stop us from learning about them ourselves."

The two agents exchanged a glance. Jones set her mouth into a thin line as Blunt said, "you have our word."

"Good. There is only one other thing we want," Chloe walked towards the woman's desk and lent down upon it, "you'll understand why soon, but this operation is mine and Alex's. It won't work without us. We want to be fully involved and in the loop with everything that goes on. This is only going to work if we are all on the same page."

"What about Kyra?" Blunt addressed her, "do you want to be similarly involved?"

"I do," her voice was without hesitation.

"Why?" he narrowed his eyes, "what do you stand to gain?"

"Experience," she said without missing a beat, "and I want to help the missing girls too."

"Pragmatic as always," Jones said, not without affection.

"Say we don't agree," said Blunt, "what then?"

"Then we walk away. You don't get our intel, and we continue with our plan without you," Chloe took a step back from the desk, folding her arms, "it would be a disaster if we tread on each other's toes, wouldn't it? And there's the fact that it will be a lot more dangerous. It's more beneficial for both of us if we join up."

"You keep saying 'join up' or 'work together'," Blunt said, "do you expect us to take you back under our employment?"

"Call it what you want. We can think about the long term once this guy is rotting in prison."

"Leave us," he said, "we'll call you back once we've made our decision."

The three of them were escorted into the break area by a grey-faced agent. Chloe's heart was beating hard and fast, but for some reason, she didn't feel nervous. Rather, her body was full of adrenaline. She guessed that the office workers had been told to ignore them. The smartly dressed agents gave them a wide berth on their way to the coffee maker. A few she was familiar with smiled at her and gave the thumbs up. Kyra was nervously bouncing her leg like a piston. The black coffee she was drinking probably wasn't helping her state of mind either. Chloe could see Blunt's short frame facing Jone's desk through the window of her office. They were deep in conversation. Chloe wondered how they spoke to each other when they were alone. The pair had been working together for years, they must have some kind of friendship. Jones would be the one arguing for their return. If anyone could persuade the man, it would be her. She took the time to check the news on her phone. There were no other incidents that matched the kidnappers' modus operandi. Of course, kidnappings or abductions happened all the time in London. It would be irresponsible to assume that Morton wouldn't change his methods to divert suspicion.

Alex tapped her shoulder. The agent was back and told them to enter the office once more. Chloe decided, whatever the decision, she would not let her reaction show on her face. She would be impassive- matter of fact. She was a little thrown to see Jones's cheeks slightly flushed as if she had been riled up by some emotion. Blunt could have been made out of stone, though his expression was slightly grimmer than it had been.

"You've come to a decision?" Kyra asked.

Jones looked at Blunt before she spoke, but his eyes were fixed on Chloe. It was as if he were testing her nerve, daring her to run away.

"We will agree to your terms," the woman said, "on one condition."

"Name it," Chloe kept her relief in check with some effort.

"The mission comes first. We will give you the information you want after this matter has been resolved."

"No!" Chloe started forward. This had to have been yet another way for them to manipulate her. Once Vaughn was behind bars, there would be some excuse why they could hold up their end of the deal. Alex blocked her approach with his arm. He shook his head.

"I'm fine with it," Kyra told the girl, "let's go ahead."

"Kyra's right. And Jones. The mission should come first for now."

Blunt's grey gaze was a constant pressure. Feeling backed into a corner, Chloe relented. There was no other choice.

"Fiona Friend was at the masquerade," Alex added, "did you know that?"

The two heads of MI6 exchanged a glance.

"We were not aware. Who was she with? What was she doing there?"

"Nothing fishy. She was there with her friends. We told her to keep away from Vaughn, but that was it. I just thought you should know."

"I'll have David Friend contacted immediately," said Blunt, "do you have any reason to believe that Vaughn was targeting her?"

"There was no way to know, but she did imply that she knew him," Chloe said, "do me a favour and make sure she's okay. And… tell her thanks, for me."

"I suppose that's fine," said Blunt, "though I would advise ceasing any contact you have with her from now on. She knows too much about you two."

"Fine by me," said Alex.

"I'm glad we've all come to an understanding," Blunt said, "let us waste no more time. Tell us everything you know about Vaughn."

An hour later, after they had moved to the conference room, the whole story had been told. A twitch of the mouth was the only evidence of Jones' horror at their recklessness. The part about them getting weapons from a black market dealer had turned her quite pale. Upon hearing about their little jump in the Thames, she had rubbed a hand to her forehead, incredulous.

"You two are the most-" she restrained herself, "what on earth were you thinking?"

"It seemed like a good idea at the time," Chloe was embarrassed. Saying it all out loud had made it all sound crazy. The antics of two overconfident kids who had no idea what they were getting into.

"I thought we taught you better than this!"

"I'm alive, aren't I?"

"By some miracle..." she muttered, "well, I suppose it doesn't matter now."

"Indeed," said Blunt, "we must focus on getting you into that mansion. You say you're waiting on word from Morton?"

"Yes. He said he would be in touch in a few days."

"And you gave him your real phone number?"

"No. Kyra set me up with a new one under the alias name. It has a fake history and everything."

"Good. And the meeting is taking place at his mansion?"

"Yes."

"Excellent. That's his first mistake," another man might have smiled as his plan came together. Not Blunt. He turned to Kyra, "can you create malware to hijack his computer systems? His security software?"

Kyra chewed on the end of her thumb, "I can, but a physical device has to be installed into a hard drive that is connected to the whole system. It's called a RAT, short for Remote Access Tool. If one of you can get that into a PC, I'll be able to control all systems remotely."

Blunt nodded, unsurprised that Kyra had a solution at the ready.

"Think you can do that?" Blunt asked.

Compared to jumping off buildings and escaping from armed guards, that sounded very possible.

"It'll take some distraction, but I don't see why not," she said.

"I'll have Smithers briefed. I expect he will be able to give you some tools to help."

A spark of excitement lit Chloe up. It was always interesting to see what the man could create.

"I must stress," Blunt said, "that this is a reconnaissance mission. We only need to find out where the girls are. We'll fix Chloe up with a hidden camera, with Kyra's help, we'll have eyes on you at all times. You go in, find them, then Wolf's team will get you out. We don't know Vaughn's motives or what he's doing to them. We won't risk you like that."

"How sweet," Chloe said bitterly, "if only you meant that."

"What if there is no way out?" Kyra chimed in, "how will you break her out without anyone noticing? Are we just going to leave the others?"

"No," Jones was firm in her answer, "assuming the girls are there, video evidence is all we need to justify extraction. No one in the British government is going to say no to that. We'll be watching the whole time. The second we see the missing girls, we'll send in the team. The same goes for if you face any danger whatsoever. I mean that."

That comforted the girl some. The mystery behind Vaughn's motives had hung over her like a black veil for a while. Her imagination was running wild with possibilities, none of them humane. She forced herself to believe that Jones was being truthful. Chloe knew the only way she'd have the guts to descend into that pool of possibilities was to hold onto that lifeline.

"I want to be on the extraction team," Alex demanded, "I've worked with them before. We work well together."

"I suppose it makes sense," Jones said, "you'll also be more familiar with the layout of the house. Fine, you can be on the team."

"There's another scenario we haven't covered," Chloe said, "what if they aren't there? And what if I'm not in any immediate danger? How am I going to get out?"

"I can make the security systems fail and look like a technical fault," said Kyra, "you can use that opportunity to run."

"Smithers will equip you with enough tools that no cell or restraint could hold you," Jones reassured her.

Chloe didn't quite think that was possible but she accepted the reality. There was no point going over every possibility.

With that, she was sent to the head of research and development. Smithers was arranging a box of items when they arrived. His brown skin looked grey under the harsh light, but his eyes shone with excitement. He tapped the side of the box.

"Long time no see girlie," Smithers grinned, "how's my little spy?"

"Ready to see what you've got for me, Smithers. You never disappoint."

"Boy, have I got some fun things to show you today," he said with a note of laughter in his voice, "I think I've outdone myself."

He held the first item for them to see. It was a shiny pearl bracelet, each bead no bigger than a pea. Chloe slipped it over her hand and admired it.

"Are they real?" she asked.

"Not at all. Looks pretty genuine though doesn't it? This is no ordinary bracelet. Each bead contains a small amount of explosive material. They work a bit like Fun Snaps if you've ever used those. Throw them hard against a surface and bang. Although these little guys pack a bit more of a punch."

"How much of a punch?" she asked, nervously caressing the beads.

"One will only scorch a surface and make a loud noise. Use the whole thing, and you can say goodbye to any lock."

"Cool."

"And that's not all. Notice how the beads are threaded onto a silver chain?"

Smithers gestured for Chloe to hand the tool to him. He gently removed all the beads and placed them in a platter. The bracelet itself was a simple silver link, each one extremely thin. The man pulled on each end and twisted. With a snap, each link flattened into a line. What he held now looked more like a thin piece of razor wire.

"Watch," he grinned.

He pressed the middle against the edge of his desk. He sawed away, the sound of metal against metal was uncomfortable. A few moments later and Smithers had made an inch deep cut into the surface.

"It goes without saying what they might be good for," he said.

"Anything for me?" Alex said hopefully, peering into the box.

"Of course," Smithers said and pulled out the next gadget. It was a thick silver ring in the shape of a snake.

"Looks like Alex Friend is making an appearance again," Chloe laughed, remembering all the jewellery that persona had worn. Alex still had the rings in a draw somewhere.

"This ring is much cooler," Smithers assured them, "see the tail? Twist that once and a needle will pop out from its left eye."

"A tranquiliser?" Alex guessed.

"Delivered via a needle so thin that they won't even feel it. And then we have these," he pulled out two further rings from his box of tricks. One was more feminine. A thin band with a small yellow flower as decoration. The other was another thick creation. The head of a dragon protruded from a gold band. Its eyes were emerald dots.

"Do you know how hard it was to come up with designs?" Smithers complained, "anyway. These two are distress beckons. They contain GPS tracking equipment. On the dragon, twist the head all the way around three times. Same for the flower. Twist three times all the way."

Chloe was beginning to feel very decorated, "thank you, Smithers. These are great."

"And I have your classics for you," he handed her the small hoop earrings she had used at point Blanc, "I thought you might feel more at ease with something tried and tested."

He was right and she donned them gratefully.

"There will be one more thing coming, but I'm waiting on Kyra. She's putting the finishing touches on her malware. Then I need to find some way of putting it in a necklace, but we'll cross that hurdle when I get to it. Any questions?" He grinned broadly.

"I think we've got it, Smithers," Alex said, "thanks for your help."

They left all of their new toys with Smithers. There was nothing left to do but wait for Vaughn to call. The hours crept along dreadfully slowly. All Chloe could think about was what terrible things were happening to Christie while they sat and waited. To Priya, a twenty-three-year-old university student, to Emily Cheswick, a single mother working as an estate agent. She curled up against Alex in Kyra's room. She had allowed them in on the promise that they wouldn't disturb her. Kyra was hard at work on her program, a steaming cup of coffee on her side and a grim look in her eye. The light of the screen lit up her face like a projection screen. Colours flickered and changed as she typed and clicked furiously. It didn't take long for the girl to fall asleep, she still hadn't caught up from her missed hours. The click-clack of Kyra's fingernails on the keys providing a strange lullaby Her dreams were of Vaughn and Yassen and Christie. They were not good dreams.

She awoke with a start when Alex shook her lightly.

"It's time."

Kyra was holding two black flash drives as if they were precious children. The next step was to take them to Smithers for remodelling. After a change of clothes to something more 'posh' as Alex put it, the whole team gathered in the conference room. Wolf, Eagle, Snake and Fox were there, looking uncomfortable in the stuffy office environment. Jones and Blunt were at the head. Kyra and Smithers were at the other end with their respective creations. The group talked back and forth about logistics and strategy. Chloe couldn't help but tune it out. No amount of talking could tell her where Vaughn's computer would be, how to slip past his attention to get the RAT in there. All she could do was fortify her mind against whatever might come.

One by one, Chloe adorned each piece of deadly jewellery. The final piece was the necklace. Smithers had cased the drive in a rod of silver. Though a little heavy, to others, it would look like a statement piece of fashion to the unsuspecting. Alex was given his own in the cap of a fountain pen which he placed in his trouser pocket.

"Good luck," said Smithers, placing an encouraging hand on each of their shoulders, "I hope my little toys serve you well."

The evening was humid, and Chloe was sweating despite the car's air conditioning. Alex was in the driver's seat, knuckles white as he gripped the steering wheel. Jones had caught the girl before she entered the vehicle in the basement car park.

"I know what you must think of me," she said, "but I have never wanted to put you in danger. I promise you that we will be there for you tonight. You don't have to worry about that."

Tears pricked Chloe's eyes, "I don't hate you," she said in a voice barely above a whisper.

"I know."

Then Jones did something surprising. She hugged Chloe gently, one hand holding the back of her head to her chest. Stunned, Chloe didn't have a chance to react before the gesture was over.

"Be safe," Jones said, "I'll be with you every step of the way."

Bizarrely, the girl felt confident. Everything would fall into place, just as planned. Even if it didn't, she had an out. She put a hand on Alex's leg and squeezed. In a way, he had a harder task. Chloe wasn't sure if she could hand him over to a known kidnapper with a master assassin in his employ. It would drive her crazy with worry. He smiled a little at her show of affection but kept his eyes fixed on the road ahead. At least the route was predictable.

"You gonna be alright?"

"Yeah. I'll be fine. Just going over what to say in my head."

"You've got this," she reassured him.

"We've got this," he corrected, "he's not going to know what hit him."