*Sigh* You're all so awesome... so I've got another chapter for you!

~Chapter 3: The Leaping Alley-Cat Saves the Day~

My code name is Magician. Honestly, I think it's cool and suits me well. In ways, I am completely like a magician.

I have a way of getting out of things easily and quickly, and most of the time it seems like magic. I can escaped just about anything, like Houdini, and I can move around and disappear just like that. Magicians need magic to work, so I need my Spy Magic Mojo to work at all as a trainee spy.

But being a magician was hardly going to help me now.

Whirling around, we could only watch as the van came barreling past us. When we turned to run, the man from before was standing at the mouth of the alley, on the balls of his feet in a fighting stance. Kat, Morgan, and I got back-to-back, ready to fight our way out if necessary. It kind of surprised me that we were being attacked in the middle of the day, where anyone passing by might see us.

But there was no one passing to help three Gallagher Academy girls. How lovely.

Six men stepped out of the van, each wielding a gun and pointing them directly at us. My mind blanked, but I quickly regained my composure, ready to fight to save my sisters even if it meant getting shot... or worse.

"Kat..." I trailed off, having no clue what to say or do.

"Sh," she murmured, her eyes narrowed in concentration.

"Guys," Charlie cut in worriedly. "Back up is on the way. Legacy, Music, Sushi, and Alley-Cat are coming in for the rescue. Hold your own till then, guys."

Morgan's eyes met with mine, and I could see the flash of fear that she quickly buried away. She didn't show any weakness to anyone, not even her own parents, but she was my sister. Practically related, even though we were no where close to it. I'd known her for a while, and we'd shared just about everything that we didn't feel comfortable telling anyone else. I nodded at her reassuringly, trying to look stronger and more confident then I felt.

Getting the silent message, Morgan smirked. We were determined to get out of this okay, even if it meant fighting to do so.

"Miss Goode," one of the men said, a black ski mask covering his face. "If you come with us quietly, we will let your friends here walk away. If not, then you leave us no choice but to do things the hard way.

I reached for Morgan and Kat's hands, giving them a gentle but firm squeeze. Our eyes met for a second, and we knew exactly what we had to do.

Looking straight at the man, Kat grinned. "Give us your best shot," she declared, leaping at him with such speed that you would have thought that she really was what her codename suggested.

Morgan and I lunged at two different men, taking them by surprise. We soon had them pinned to the ground, their guns sliding across the asphalt. My friend reached in her pocket, handed me a napotine patch, and then slapped one onto her own guy. They were soon out cold.

Turning around, we saw that Kat had taken down two of the other guys with hand to hand combat. four guys down, three to go. We could take them.

Unfortunately, the game of fighting was over as soon as the boys rushed into the alley. At first, I felt relieved, hoping that they would raise alarm, and then I was surprised when they stood calmly beside the masked men, and then angry. All in seven seconds, I went through three emotions. New record for me!

"And I honestly thought you guys were cute," Kat muttered, spreading her feet apart and ready to fight again.

The boy that had called himself Aidan smiled. "We're not that bad," he said.

I snorted.

"And you honestly expect us to believe that now?" Morgan asked after my lack of speaking.

Gavin shrugged. "One can always hope, right?" And then he lunged.

At first, it seemed like he was going towards Morgan and me, and then he switched directions at the last minutes as we were about to tackle him and went to Kat. He grabbed her in a choke hold, forcing her to her knees. She flipped him over onto his back, not a hair getting out of place from her ponytail.

"Stronger than we thought," he wheezed.

"You seem surprised by that," Kat remarked with a smirk.

Gavin smiled up at us. "Not exactly," he said, diving at one of the guys carrying a gun. The guy was out cold thirteen seconds later, and when I turned and glanced behind us, Aidan and Ben had downed the other guy they were standing beside. What were they, double agents or something? Good actors? Circus performers?

I'd save the questions for later. I could ponder this when I had time and we were all safe.

Anyways, there were two more down, one to go.

Thinking that we had won, I turned to face Morgan, only to find that she wasn't there. I did a quick three-sixty, and I completely froze when I saw the gun. The guy left over had an arm around her neck, and the gun was wavering between the rest of us. Morgan was limp, and I knew why as soon as I saw the napotine patch on her forehead.

I mentally slapped myself. How could I have let my guard down? How could I have allowed my best friend to be put in that kind of a position, where she couldn't even defend herself?

"Step away," a wheezing voice croaked. I glanced to my right, noticing that one of the guys Kat had knocked out was starting to stand, his own gun at the ready. He was favoring his left side, which must have meant that Kat had broken a few ribs.

Good for her.

But everything was still bad for us.

"Let her go," Kat demanded in a low growl.

The man shook his head angrily. "Can't do that, Fox," he said, emphasizing her codename just to prove that he had something over us. "We all have our orders, correct?"

I glared and opened my mouth to speak, but someone grabbed my arm. I whirled, ready to deck them, but stopped when I saw the warning look from Aidan. His grip tightened on my arm, and I yanked away, my glare going back to the man holding Morgan.

"Calm down," the man chuckled. "As long as Mr. and Mrs. Goode cooperate, Green-Eyed will not be harmed."

Lie.

"If you try and stop us from leaving, we may just get a little trigger happy."

Truth.

We could only back away silently. Kat had her fists clenched and her teeth were making grinding noises as she looked on in anger. I had my hands clenched at my sides, standing straight up and alert. If there was even a slight chance to help Morgan, I would go for it. I just had to.

And thankfully, that's when Meghana Patel (AKA Music) came rushing into the alley, AJ (AKA Legacy) and Ashton Kim (AKA Sushi) following behind her.

But where was Lexi? No party was complete unless Alley-Cat came crashing into the place that was a part of her codename.

And when I saw her jumping down from the roof, I almost grinned as she came crashing down on the man with Morgan. Tackling the guy to the ground, Morgan just fell limply. I rushed forward, along with Kat, and we each put one of her arms around our shoulders. Her head was slumped forward, her chin hitting her chest and her hair all in her face, but other than that she was okay. Or as okay as you can get when two creepy guys had just tried to take you away.

"What now?" I quietly asked Kat.

My older friend was silent. "Divide and conquer!" she yelled, trying to speak to the entire alley, minus the creepy guys that were having their brains beaten out of their heads by pissed Gallagher Girls.

I actually felt a pang of pity for the creepy guys.

"Come on!" another voice hissed.

Someone grabbed my hand, and started dragging me toward the exit of the alley, and I had no choice but to pull Morgan and Kat along with me. When I finally stopped stumbling, I looked up at the person who was leading me away, fully intending to punch them as soon as we were out of harm's way.

To my surprise, I ended up seeing the back of a red baseball cap. And only one person could be wearing that right at this moment.

"Aidan, what the heck are you doing?" I whisper-yelled.

He turned, sparing me a second long glance. "Trying to save you life, along with your friends there," he replied curtly.

Well, state the obvious, hm?

I didn't protest or even speak up anymore. I just allowed him to lead me away, and I glanced back one more time at the alley. Lexi, Meg, AJ, and Ash were running towards the other exit. At least they were safe for now, I realized, watching the still bodies of the men that had tried to kindap Morgan- or whatever they had been trying to do.

Definitely kidnapping, I thought. They said something about Mr. and Mrs. Goode. Revenge? Blackmail? Leverage? Wait, that's the same as blackmail...

The thoughts swirled around in my head. I snapped back to reality, forcing myself to stay alert and focus on the task at hand: Get away, run, get to Gallagher van.

Simple?

As if.

Okay, more action coming your way next chapter!

Thanks for all your awesomeness! :P

~Dreaming