Chapter 7

"THIS IS MI9! EVERYBODY GET DOWN!"

The voice yelled across the open space, followed by a clanging and hissing noise as smoke canisters hit the ground and released smoke into the air. Constantala's men doubled over as the smoke entered their lungs and fell to their knees unable to see.

Through the smoke, Dan made out several black-clad, masked figures spilling into the warehouse and training their weapons on Constantala's guards. There was a fair bit of tumult as the newcomers disarmed and handcuffed the two guards and the two more that came bursting in.

Blinking through the smoke Dan looked around for his friends. Aneisha had dropped to the floor to avoid the worst of the smoke and was breathing through her sleeve, well out of harm's way. Then he spotted something that made his heart skip a beat. Constantala, who had pulled her scarf up around her face to prevent herself inhaling the smoke, had grabbed a dazed looking Taya and was dragging her off out of the main concourse.

"Hey!" Dan yelled, chasing after them.

Out in the corridor, he could see clearly again. Fifty meters or so ahead, Constantala was striding towards the exit, dragging a struggling Taya by her neck.

"Hey!" Dan yelled again, charging down the corridor.

Maria turned around. Her hair was disheveled and her face contorted with anger. She looked completely wild; no longer the put-together business owner from before. She had pulled a knife from somewhere and was holding a knife to Taya's throat.

"Stay where you are!" she warned.

Dan skidded to a halt, heart racing.

"Let her go," he said, holding his hands out, palms raised in calming gesture, though he felt anything but calm.

Taya's eyes were wide and fearful as she struggled but Constantala's grip was strong. Dan noticed she still had her fist closed tight around the vial. Constantala seemed to have forgotten about it.

"Yeah, right," the ex-model sneered. "Call it my insurance. I'm getting out of here and you can't stop me."

Wait!" A voice appeared at Dan shoulder and he glanced over to see Aneisha. "You don't have to do this." Dan wasn't sure the woman would listen to Aneisha anymore than to him but it didn't matter as she didn't get any further.

There was a crash as the fire exit behind Maria burst open and several more MI9 agents came in. They quickly registered the situation at hand and didn't move any closer. Constantala spun round at the interruption but didn't release her hold on Taya.

Aneisha took a cautious step forward.

"Just let her go," she said calmly, keeping her eyes steadily on Maria. "It will be much better for you."

Dan could see the desperate look in Maria's eyes. She could see she was trapped but she didn't look as though she wanted to let Taya go. Then Taya's eyes met his and he noticed her eyes narrow slightly as the same steely resolve he had seen in her early took charge.

One of the MI9 agents behind her took a step forward and Constantala turned to look. Using her distraction, Taya elbowed her captor hard in the stomach causing her to double over in pain and release Taya. Taya grabbed the woman's hand that still held the weapon and smacked it against the wall, forcing her to drop it. Dan leapt forward and snatched it up.

"It's over," he said, looking down at the woman on the floor. She was cradling her hand and glaring furiously up at the MI High agents.

"It's never over," she snarled, as two burly agents grabbed her and pulled her to her feet.

"For you it is," Dan replied firmly.

MI9 had done a pretty thorough clean-up job: Maria Constantala had been escorted off the premises, along with her hired muscle; none of the perfume bottles had been contaminated and the virus was safely returned to its box, ready to be taken away.

Frank found Dan, Tom, Aneisha and Taya watching procedures quietly from the side-lines and they headed back to HQ for debriefing.

"What I don't get is how MI9 knew where to come in," Dan said as they came out of the lift into the spy base.

"It was me," Tom admitted, slumping down into his computer chair and swivelling to face the others. "When we heard Constantala had found you two, I contacted Frank and let him know what was going on and he did the rest."

"You should have contacted me sooner," he reprimanded them. "But fortunately we managed to scramble a team in time."

"MI9 not so useless after all then, eh, Dan?" said Tom, mischievously.

"Hmm…" Dan agreed reluctantly. "I suppose I should apologise," he said to Frank.

Frank smiled. "Well, I can't say I'm entirely happy about it but you did what you thought was right. And we wouldn't have found Taya if you hadn't. Besides," he continued but was interrupted.

"Besides, it's not you who should apologise," Stella said, emerging from the back of the room. "It's me."

Dan stared at her in surprise.

The Chief Agent turned to Taya who was standing quietly at the back of the group. She took a deep breath and spoke. "Taya, I'm sorry. What I said to you after your last mission was totally out of order and furthermore, not even true. Regardless of what happened on that mission, you were one of our best agents and, well, everyone deserves second chances. My insensitivity was disgusting and I'm not expecting you to forgive me. But you should know that I am sorry."

Taya looked at Stella silently for a few moments as if trying to work out what to say. In the end she just nodded. It wasn't clear if that meant she was forgiving the woman or just acknowledging that she had heard, but some sort of understanding passed between the two of them.

"There's something else, too," Tom said, looking hesitantly at Frank who nodded. Tom stood, coming closer to the group. "When I was in Constantala's office at the warehouse I found this." He pulled out several pages of blueprints and laid them out on the glass surface for them all to see. "It's the plans for the SKULL base were Constantala's brother was originally using," he explained, "and it shows the security systems the Grandmaster put in place. The booby trap was already in place before SKULL abandoned it. And it was on a completely self-contained system."

"So what does that mean?" Aneisha asked.

"It means it couldn't have been you who set off the alarm, Taya. There's no way Antonio Constantala could have connected the box into the security system of the SKULL base. Opening wouldn't have set anything off. It must have been one of Constantala's guards who set it off."

"So…"

"So it was nothing to do with you," Dan said turning to look at Taya.

The girl looked from Tom to Dan and back again, her face pale. Then she span away and fled into the lift.

Dan started to go after her, but Frank stopped him.

"Give her a few minutes," he said. Dan wanted to argue but realised that, of all of them, Frank knew most what Taya was going through. Stella remained silent. Her gaze was locked on the plans, but her mind seemed to be elsewhere.

"On a more positive note," Frank continued after a brief glance in Stella's direction, "You've all done a great job: Constantala didn't manage to inject any of the virus into the perfume. We managed to get the sample back fully intact as well as being sure none of the products were contaminated. Furthermore, she didn't manage to get away and this time there is plenty of evidence to convict her of her crimes."

Despite this, Dan couldn't help feel like they'd lost. He could tell from the slightly sombre looks on his friends faces that they felt the same. They had won, but Taya had still lost. Bringing Constantala to justice hadn't brought her friends back and it had been a close call all around.

"But we saved a lot of people," Aneisha pointed out, responding to a question nobody had voiced. She sounded a little uncertain, as though she wanted reassurance.

"And that is no small achievement," Frank reminded them, firmly. "Don't forget that."

The team had left the base and only Frank and Stella were left. Frank had sat down at the computer, and started tapping away at the keys, writing up his report. He knew Stella was still there, and could tell she was waiting to say something. But he wasn't going to prompt her.

"Frank," she said, quietly, none of her usual business-like manner. He didn't turn around, but he paused his typing to indicate he was listening.

Stella took a deep breath. "I made a huge mistake," she admitted. "I see that now. I – I wanted you to know that. And that I'm sorry. I can't change what I did or… what I said, but…" She trailed off.

Frank didn't respond immediately but eventually he stood and faced Stella. Part of him still felt angry and he realised he still felt as though she had let him down. But he knew how much Stella hated being wrong and hated admitting her fault even more. This was her trying to make it right.

"It could have ended much worse," he said, eyebrows raised. "But I think we've all learned lessons today." Stella looked relieved that he didn't ask her to say anymore.

"These kids never fail to impress me," Frank said, smiling.

"They're good agents," Stella agreed. "All of them are."

"So, just to clarify: we're breaking in to an ex-SKULL base – well known for their totally OTT defences – to retrieve a vial containing a virus that, if it's released, could kill thousands of people?" Nick summed up.

"Piece of cake," said Taya, sardonically.

Jessie, always more optimistic, frowned at her friends' attitudes.

"We can do this," she said confidently. "Dream team, right?"

Taya smiled. "Sure."

"Come on!" Jessie said, extending her arms. "Group hug!"

Taya raised an eyebrow but was grinning as she accepted the other girls arm.

"Seriously?" Nick groaned, as though hugging was miles beneath him.

"Come on, Nick!" Jessie pouted, flapping her hand in his direction as though it would encourage him to join their hug.

"Yeah, come on, Nick," Taya joked. He rolled his eyes but grudgingly hugged the girls back.

"You guys are lame," he said, but smirked at them.

"And you wouldn't have us any other way," Taya said, poking her tongue out.

Taya was outside when Dan found her a while later. She was sat on the brick wall of the raised flower bed, staring into space. She looked up as he approached and smiled briefly which Dan took as a sign that she welcomed his company. He noticed that the skin around her eyes was red and puffy and her eyes were a little bloodshot but she didn't seem to be crying any more.

He sat down next to her and for a few moments they sat quietly side by side watching as Mr Flatly stowed folders and books into a bag on the back of his bike across the courtyard.

"…Are you going to be alright?" Dan asked after a while.

Taya was silent for a long while, her eyes apparently fixed on Mr Flatly and Dan wasn't sure if she would answer or if she had actually heard him. Finally she said,

"I think so. Eventually." She sighed. "I know now it wasn't my fault… but they're still gone. I still feel like I should have done something –" She broke off and looked away. She watched Mr Flatley fasten his helmet onto his head, climb onto his bicycle and cycle out of the school gates. "But it feels good to have finally closed the door on our last mission, though. Like they didn't die in vain…" she trailed off again.

Dan let her take her time. His heart ached for her and he wished he could say something that would instantly make her better. But he knew that it would take time; perhaps a long time, for these wounds to heal.

"I'm sure they would be very proud of you. And happy you survived - so don't ever feel guilty about that." Dan said quietly.

Taya turned back to him with a slightly watery smile.

"Thanks," she said, a little awkwardly. "For coming after me. For believing in me. For… everything."

"Thank you," Dan replied with a grin. "You saved the day – who knows what would have happened if that vial had smashed."

"We both did pretty good, huh?" Taya agreed.

They were both quiet again, staring off into the distance.

"Will you come back and work for MI9 again d'you think?" Dan asked.

Taya shrugged. "I don't know. I don't think I'm quite ready for that just yet. But… maybe. Although I think I might need some training beforehand. But yeah… maybe."

"What about now? What will you do for now?"

Taya shrugged again. "Not sure. I'll have to speak to Frank – see if I'm to stay or what. I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens."

"Well, we'll be here for you if you ever need us. And you're always welcome to come and visit us, even if you don't stay here or re-join MI9 or whatever." Dan said brightly.

Taya smiled. "Thanks. I'd like that."

Glancing up, Dan noticed Tom and Anneisha come out of the school building.

"Besides," he joked, standing up, "that catch was pretty impressive: we may need you for the school cricket team."

"Hmm," she intoned, raising an eyebrow.

"Not to mention your expertise in using furniture as weaponry." Dan winked.

She laughed. Looking towards Tom and Aneisha, she added warmly, "Though, I think you've got a pretty good team here already."

Dan smiled as he watched his friends approach. "Yeah," he said. "We do."

The end!

A/N: There we go! It kinda resolved itself quite quickly after all the drama. I hope you all enjoyed it: thank you so much to everyone who has been following this story and to everyone left a reviewed! They are all very much appreciated.

Please let me know what you thought. Even if you come across this story three years down the line or whatever, feel free to leave a comment!

And thank you for reading.