.o What's Going On? o.

Cammie POV

"Ugh. Professor Cass's exam is today," Lyla groaned as we walked across the campus to our math class together. So far everything had been going smoothly in my life- for once. Lyla was an easy person to be around. After we saw that movie together, after Abby had left, I realized I had missed having a friend around. Lyla was a sweet girl. She was curious about my mysterious way of going unnoticed and seemingly disappearing, but so far I hadn't needed to lie to her. That was the only thing I was worried about. I didn't want to hurt her; I had made sure she knew that I was not going to be able to be a lifelong friend early on. I couldn't do that to her; she would never understand why I disappeared, never hear the stories of my past, know where my scars came from. She had seemed a little disappointed but said she was happy to be my friend as long as possible.

"I'm sure you'll do fine," I told her, pushing my bag further up my shoulder as I walked.

"I don't know. I take too long; I still have no idea how you do your work so fast! You're the top student in her class!" she said. It was true. I was the top student in all my classes, but I couldn't exactly tell her I technically could have a Ph.D. in almost everything, now could I?

"I guess I'm just a giant nerd," I shrugged, chuckling.

Lyla rolled her eyes. She stayed silent for a minute. I looked at her warily; Lyla being quiet normally something bad for me. When I looked at her, she had this mischievous glint in her eyes. I sighed. I knew what was coming; I had figured it was only a matter of time until she started. I sighed, honestly nervous about this one.

"So," she began, dragging out the word, "You're the girl that mysterious boy comes to see?" she asked, practically hopping with giddiness. Lyla was one of those romance loving people. And to her, there was nothing more romantic than a boy coming to see a girl while she was away at college.

Zach had, in fact, come to see me two days ago. It had been the first time I'd seen him since the first attack on Bianca. I had noticed him while walking from campus, back to the apartments with Lyla- which is why she now knew about him. I had planned to find him after I lost Lyla, but when our eyes met, I could instantly tell something was wrong. I had heard that there had been a second attack in London and had planned to fly over there today, even if it meant breaking my promise to Aunt Abby. But, if Zach had been here, then there must have been something wrong.

So I had mulled it over and decided it wouldn't hurt if Lyla knew that I knew Zach. I had told her briefly that Zach was my boyfriend and pointed him out when she didn't notice him in the crowd across the street. She had instantly urged me to go and told me to tell her all about it later.

I had begun to follow Zach, who had started weaving through the crowd as soon as he saw me coming. I followed him to a small park and sat next to him on a picnic table. I had wanted to hug him, kiss him after not seeing him for so long, but I knew it wasn't the time for it.

"Zach, what's wrong?" I had asked immediately.

"Nothing, Gallagh-"

"Zach!" I cut him off, not wanting to hear it. There was something wrong, that was obvious.

Zach had sighed and shook his head.

"This is about the attack in London, isn't it?"

Finally, Zach nodded. "Bianca's fine. Macey and Bex have gotten the President and your mom to let her go to Gallagher, to keep her safe."

"She's going to Gallagher?" I asked, stunned. The only person I'd ever known to get in after age twelve was, in fact, Macey. Of course, that's not including Zach's strange circumstances.

"Yes, and Tina's accompanying her."

I had nodded slowly. "What are Macey and Bex doing?"

"When I left, they were still planning Bianca's departure," he said. "After that, they were going to start their own investigation."

I nodded again, "What are you doing? Do you have any leads?"

Zach shook his head, but he wouldn't meet my eyes. Was he lying? Why would he lie to me? If he wasn't lying, why was he here? I shook off the questions. If I needed to know something, he would tell me.

"Alright," I had said. "I'm helping Macey."

Zach's head had shot up. "No."

"What?"

"No, Gallagher Girl. Stay here," he had demanded sternly, albeit not rudely. Why couldn't I leave? Why had it mattered so much to him? I was rapidly starting to suspect I wasn't being told everything.

"No, Zach. I can't just stay here. I need to do something, to help some way!"

Zach had sighed and looked over my shoulder. I turned to see Grant standing on the other side of the park, arms crossed. He seemed to be upset about something. I had turned back to Zach.

"Zach, what's going on? What aren't you telling me?"

"Gallagher Girl, please-"

"Don't 'Gallagher Girl' me, Zach. Tell me," I had said quietly.

Zach had stared at me for a long time. He had seemed to be debating something in his head. Finally, he reached out and cupped my face in his hand. "Cammie, please," he whispered, bringing his forehead to mine. "Please, just promise me you'll stay here."

"But why?" I asked.

"I swear I'll explain soon. I'll tell you everything, just please promise me," he pleaded, his face inches from mine.

"Okay," I finally had said.

He gave me a sad smile and gently, briefly kissed me. When he pulled back, he had stood and started making his way across the park to Grant. I had sighed as I watched him leave. I had avoided Lyla the rest of that day and the next. Being a the Chameleon, it wasn't too difficult. I tried to understand what Zach meant. Why he wasn't telling me everything. And, most of all, why he wanted me to stay put so badly.

That had been two days ago, and now Lyla had had enough waiting. It was good for me, considering I hadn't been able to think clearly enough these past few days to decide on what to tell her. But it was bad for her since she wanted, what she assumed were 'romantic details'. I sighed and chuckled as I looked at my over-enthusiastic friend.

"Yes, well, there's not much to tell," I told her. "He just came to see me, since we hadn't seen each other in a while."

"Does he live around here?" She asked.

"Um, he travels a lot actually."

"Oh," she said. She stopped talking for a second, then bounced back into her questions. "So, where did you guys meet?"

Luckily, I was saved from answering that question and any further interrogation by us arriving at our math class. I took my seat near the center and Lyla sat behind me in the row to the left.

"Good morning everyone," Professor Cass said, as she brought out the exam papers. They were handed out and we began our exam. About twenty minutes into it is when everything changed.

First, the fire alarm went off. Everyone jumped up and began 'calmly' panicking. They started grabbing papers and jamming them into their bags as quickly as possible. I looked around. There was no sign of fire at all. Well, besides the alarm. There was no trace of smoke in the air, no one else was running in the halls, and it seemed only this room's alarm had gone off. That wasn't normal. The alarms were connected; if one went off, they all went off. To anyone else, it would seem like a simple malfunction. To me, it was a setup.

My suspicion was confirmed when the power went out a moment later. At the time the windows had been closed and the curtains shut, so it became nearly completely dark. I finally stood as I heard Mrs. Cass begin telling everyone it must have been a simple malfunction of the system. I knew better, this was someone playing with the systems, and I needed to know why. Mrs. Cass let everyone leave the classroom, and I made my way straight towards the control room.

Turns out, the entire wing of this building lost power. The hallways were completely dark. That didn't stop me though. It wasn't until I heard footsteps behind me that I slowed my pace. I turned and heard a familiar voice call out, "Cammie?"

"Over here, Lyla."

"Where are you going?"

"Nowhere, I just don't like being in a room that chaotic. You should go back," I told her. Luckily, I heard her faint, "Okay," and her footsteps going away.

I sighed and continued my way to the control room. I turned the corner and was met with a blow to the side, knocking me against the wall. The hallway was still completely dark, so I had no idea who just hit me. Someone grabbed my arm and put their hand over my mouth, as they tried to drag me somewhere. I stepped back, bit the hand at my mouth, and turned, twisting the arm holding me as I spun and kicked my attacker in the side.

I heard them hit the opposite wall and groan. "Jeez, Cam, take it easy," I heard a familiar voice gasp.

"Macey?!" I exclaimed. "What are you doing here!?"

Somewhere behind me, I heard another voice chuckle, "Told you not to surprise her."

"Bex? What's going on?" I demanded. First Zach, now this? What was going on?

"Sh! Someone's coming," I heard Liz's small voice cry.

In the darkness, I heard the muffled shuffling of my best friends clearing out of sight- as if anyone could see in this dark.

"Who's over there?" I heard Mrs. Cass call.

There were a few more footsteps, then I heard Lyla call, "Cammie went that way."

"I'm here," I said. "I was trying to get outside. I'm a bit claustrophobic."

"Oh, that's fine, dear. It's this way though," she said, grabbing my hand and leading to the doors. She led me outside, where everyone had gathered. I searched the area for my friends. I caught a glimpse of Liz scurrying across the grounds towards the park Zach had led me to yesterday. It was only a matter of ensuring about five different people I was fine, then I was able to disappear. I made my way to the park and found my friends. Liz was on a swing, Macey was pushing her, and Bex was doing pull-ups on the monkey bars. I chuckled as I watched Macey call out something, and Bex respond by sticking out her tongue and only using one hand to pull herself up a few times before jumping down, doing a flip midair.

Bex saw me coming as she straightened; her smile widened, then faded. "Hey," she called.

"Hey?" I asked. "What was that? Why go through all that? Why are you guys here? What didn't Zach tell me? What's going on?"

"Zack was here? When? What did he say?" Macey demanded. Wait. Did they not know what Zach was doing? Why would they be here then? Zach said they were investigating the terrorist after Bianca. What was going on?

"He was here yesterday. Why? Will someone please tell me what's going on?"

"Cam, Zach disappeared five days ago," Macey started to say, but Bex cut her off.

"Not here," she said.

Twenty minutes later, we were in my apartment, and my friends had told me everything I had missed. This was insane, yet it made some kind of twisted sense. It really hadn't made any sense why anyone would attack Bianca. If it had been the President, that was a different story. The only thing that was still a big question was who this ACE was, and what exactly did they want?

I mean, sure I've made plenty of enemies. Especially being a prime reason the Circle of Cavan had fallen. But I had no connection I could think of to the two girls that were broken out and seem to be two-thirds of the mysterious ACE.

I wasn't really super concerned about being targeted. Though, my friends seemed to be. But, once you're chased for two years by the most dangerous terrorist in the world, who happened to murder your father and want to start World War Three, been captured, released, brainwashed, and finally left alone to stop them from destroying the world- this ACE didn't exactly terrify me. I wondered whether that was why Zach made me promise to stay here. To keep me from going after them. The other big question was, what exactly did Zach know?

After they informed me of everything, I told my friends about Zach's visit.

"He wanted you to stay here? Why?"

"Grant was with him?"

"Did he say anything about the attackers?"

I sighed as I answered my friends' questions. It took me telling the story twice, verbatim, for them to accept that's all Zach had told me. I could feel their frustration. I was upset by the lack of information we had too. After all, the one person who could help us seemed to be avoiding us.

Zach had been the one Richard Steven Runner was ordered to talk to. Zach was told he would know who did this. From what the girls told me, it was Zach who got two mystery notes. And now, it was Zach who disappeared after telling me to stay here. Did he know I was targeted? Or did he just not want me to get into this? I felt like I didn't know anything. But I knew one thing for sure.

"We're finding Zach."

I waited for my friends to protest. To say I should stay here. That they should worry more about this attacker. But nothing came. I figured they had come to the same conclusion as me- Zach knew who was doing this, so we first we find Zach, then some answers.

"When do we leave?" Bex asked.

"Now."

In five minutes, I was ready.

I had always kept an emergency bag in my room. After my experiences, I was always ready to run at a moment's notice. I think every spy comes to that point eventually. We all learn that we can't trust anything to go well. That there are always people who want us gone. We can't ever get too comfortable in one place.

"What's that?" Liz asked as I taped a piece of paper on my door.

"A note for Lyla," I answered. I needed to make sure she didn't send a search party after me. Not that they would ever find me if she did. I guess it was more for her to know I was fine and not abducted by some lunatic. It simply stated that I had to leave because of a family emergency, and I didn't know when I would be back.

"Alright," Bex said, once we were outside. "The car we were using is over there," she pointed to the parking lot, "Do you know where we're going first?"

All my friends looked to me. "What?" I asked.

"Well, Cam," Liz started, "you're the pavement artist. You're our tracking expert."

"Plus," Macey smirked, "you're the best one to find Zach, considering...things." My friends all snickered at my face that I'm sure was red.

"Where do we start?" Bex asked.

I rolled my eyes. "You guys act as if I'm the only one that took CoveOps."

"Eh, sure, "Bex shrugged, "But Liz's right. You're the expert."

"Fine," I sighed. "When tracking a subject, an operative always begins with the last known location subject was present," I quoted Mr. Solomon. No matter what I went through, I would always hear his voice, his lessons, when I needed them. They would be with me forever.

"So, that means we're going to London- again?" Liz said.

I nodded. "Do we need anything before we leave?" I asked.

"Snacks!"

We all looked to Macey and Liz, who had answered at the same time. Macey shrugged, "I'm not traveling with a hungry Bex."

Bex snorted and rolled her eyes.

"I forgot the gummy bears," Liz said.

We all laughed. It was nice to be on a mission with my friends again.

When we landed in London, the first thing we did was track down the last person we knew Zach talked to. Joe. He was still at Baring Cross Station helping Townsend clean up the mess the attack had caused. He wasn't alone.

"Squirt! What are you doing here?"

"Aunt Abby?" I cried when I saw her with my stepfather and Townsend. Abby came and gave me a hug. Then she looked from me to each of my friend's faces.

"Hello, girls."

"Hey, Abby," my friends chorused.

"So what brings you guys to London?" Abby asked.

"I was going to ask you the same," I told her.

Abby shrugged. "Since Bianca is at Gallagher, your mom wanted me to look into the attacks a bit further. We want to know what we're up against."

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Macey and Bex exchange a look. I guess they hadn't told anyone about the message before they left. I thought about it for a moment and decided I didn't want anyone worrying about me- again. It was better that I track down Zach, then take care of this ACE myself.

Suddenly, Abby snapped her fingers and turned towards me. "What about you?" she demanded. "I believe I told you to stay at Georgetown."

"Yeah, about that..."

"Cam," Abby groaned. We heard two soft chuckles behind us and turned to find both Joe and Townsend, who had been silent until then, holding back laughter.

"What, may I ask, is amusing right now?" Abby snapped, though I could tell she wasn't angry.

Townsend shook his head. "She's so much like you."

Abby raised her eyebrows.

Joe pointed at her, "Remember Fiji?" he said. I stepped away from Abby and gave my stepfather a hug.

Abby rolled her eyes. I hated when they did that. I couldn't ask what they meant, and even if I could, would I truly want to know the answer? They were constantly in danger. But, then again, so was I.

Abby huffed. Joe turned to me and my friends, raising an eyebrow, "Now, what exactly are you four doing here? I believe you three said you were going to look into the attacker."

Bex stepped forward. "We are. We just have reason to believe someone knows who they are. We're currently tracking him."

"Zach?" Townsend asked. He looked worried. Beside him, Joe stiffened.

We all nodded. "Do you know where he went?" Macey asked.

Townsend shook his head. "I was hoping he was with you."

I turned to Joe, "Do you have any idea where he is?"

Joe closed his eyes, then finally looked at me. He sighed, "I don't know where he is, but I have a theory."

"Where?" Bex demanded.

Joe looked like he was debating what to tell us.

"Joe," I whispered, "Please, I need to find him. This- whoever this is- they've targeted me."

The shift of tension in the room was visible. My friends' eyes widened. Abby looked ready to kill. Townsend's face went completely blank. But the most curious shift was Joe's. He didn't look surprised or blank. He looked frustrated.

Joe took a heavy breath. When he looked back to me, I couldn't tell what he was feeling; his eyes seemed torn between worry, frustration, and- sadness?

My stepfather sighed and said something that totally caught me off guard, "When you find him, don't be angry."

"Why would I-"

"Cam, just, know that he wanted to tell you, but it was hard for him."

"Joe, I don't-"

"You'll understand soon. Last I know, Zach was heading to find Grant."

I shook my head, "He found him. They visited me a few days ago."

"What did he say?" Abby asked.

I smiled sheepishly, "To stay at Georgetown"

Abby glared but was cut off before she could chastise me.

"He told you to stay put?" Joe asked.

I nodded.

"Then it's good you're not."

"Huh?"

Joe shook his head. "He's worried about you. His judgment is thrown off. That's always been his problem."

I nodded as I took that in. While it was sweet he worried, I didn't need him risking himself or me. I needed to talk to him.

There was a groan behind me. "Would every of please stop being so bloody vague!" Bex said, exasperated. "Where is Zach?"

Joe shook his head. "I don't know where he is exactly, but I would bet anything he's somewhere in Virginia."

"Virginia?" Macey asked, unimpressed. "Really? We came to London just to hear he's in Virginia."

Joe nodded.

"Well then," Liz sighed, "what's the plan, Cam?"

I turned to the three adults. "We're finding Zach. Don't worry about us, but keep Bianca under close watch. She may still be at risk."

There were brief goodbyes, then my friends and I made our way the plane. I went through everything that had happened. Everything that had been said. The way Zach had been acting the past few weeks. As we flew across the Atlantic, I couldn't fight the feeling we were about to find not only Zach but a secret that would change everything.