Just before Zach had passed out, I saw a flash of desperation and disbelief in his eyes. But there were still traces of love and care from our kiss, and I had to bite my lips to stop myself from sobbing.

I'm sorry.

But it's for the best.

Cammie's POV

Once Zach was gone from the helicopter, Mrs. Goode simply closed the door and sat down. She was staring at me – and not a zoning out staring into space but you realize it's actually a person staring – her eyes, so similar to Zach's, were piercing into my body so intensely that I wouldn't have been surprised if my hair started burning.

She said something softly to the man driving the helicopter – so softly that even I didn't hear it. Then, she simply walked over to me and injected a syringe into my arm.

The pinching pain made me want to cry out, but I kept my face expressionless, keeping my emotions in check. Then my vision went fuzzy, and I hit the floor of the helicopter with a thud.

I did this for him.

He's safe now.

Zach's POV

Fire.

Bex and Grant holding hands, running away together.

Piercing, deep blue eyes.

Long, dirty blonde hair.

Cammie.

My Cammie.

I automatically reached my hand out and felt around on the bed for her warmth – and came up with nothing but cool sheets. I crinkled my eyebrows and tried to roll over, still groping around for her, but my body was so sore all I could do was groan.

"Mr. Goode? Mr. Goode, can you hear me? Can you open your eyes?" A gravelly, slightly nasal voice broke through my semi-peaceful haze.

I pried my eyes open – my eyelashes were stuck together – and blinked, clearing my vision.

A doctor was standing next to me, a clipboard cocked on his hip. One look at his name tag dangling off of his neck and I knew this wasn't a CIA hospital.

The hospitals that were for CIA agents only had a bright, startling red on their name tags, and a lot of the time it was their code name on it along with their actual name.

I was immediately annoyed. Where was Cammie? What happened to Bex and Grant? Where was my mother?

Suddenly, memories came rushing back into my brain so quickly that I gagged a little. The doctor – whose name, I noticed, was Dr. Byrn, was rattling on about something that I really could not care less about, telling me about my injuries.
I didn't care if I was hurt.

All I cared about was Cammie.

My mother had Cammie.

My mother had Cammie.

And Cam had practically pushed me off of the helicopter to get me to safety.

"God damn it!" I punched the bed.

Dr. Byrn look at me, startled. "Are you quite alright?"

"Yea, I'm just peachy. Where are my clothes? I'm leaving," I snapped. I jumped up from the bed, and saw that my clothes were strewn over the chair next to my bed. I grabbed for them. There was no time to be polite to strangers that I was never going to see again in my life – even if the stranger was trying to help you.

"I'm afraid, Mr. Goode, that you can not leave yet, because we still need to check if your head is -"

"Listen up, buttercup," I growled, using a term Cammie always snapped at me, telling me to 'Suck it up, buttercup'. God, I missed her. I needed her. "I am a CIA agent," I flashed him my badge that I took from the back pocket of my pants. "and I need to get out of this hospital or some very, very bad things are going to happen to this world. So I suggest you let me go without a fight."

I tugged my pants on, ripped the blasted hospital gown off my body, and shrugged on my dirty T-shirt.

"Safety regulations -" Dr. Byrn grabbed a hold of my arm.

I shook him off easily, and sighed.

"Honestly, I know how to take care of myself, Dr. Byrn. If I have to call the CIA director myself and take precious time out of his busy day for him to talk to you, I'll do it. But just...let me go, because I really need to go rescue the only person I'll ever truly love from my bitch of a mother," I muttered the last part under my breath, too low for civilians to hear.

"Just pretend I was never here," I told him.

And with that, I strode out my room and pressed the Lobby button in the elevator, not even waiting for his response. I walked out the hospital doors and into the hot afternoon, my head pounding and my limbs sore.

I ignored it. I quickly pick-pocketed some poor man wearing an oddly colored tie and took his cell phone. I dialed Jonas.

He didn't pick up.

I groaned in frustration and sat down on a bench, and dialed again.

"Hello?" he picked up.

"Jonas!" I nearly shouted, causing some people to look over at me, shooting me odd looks. My spy senses were off – I didn't even know what time it was, not even bothering to check the clock on the phone. I was nauseous and I had no idea where in the hell I was.

"Zach? Who's phone is this?" Jonas cleared his throat, something he did when he was nervous.

"I don't know. Listen, Jo. You know how I was on that mission to find Grant and Bex? With Cammie? Yea. Well, I kind of fell in love with her, and I'm pretty sure I've never loved anyone as much as I do her in my life, or will I ever, and Bex and Grant are missing, and Cammie shoved me out of a helicopter, and I have no idea where the hell I am, and my mother took Cammie away from me, and I yelled at Dr. Byrn, and my head hurts, and..." I trailed off, yanking a hand through my hair roughly.

"Wait, what? Just...okay, stop talking. I barely understood a word you said. I'll track the phone you're using and come pick you up, okay? Just don't move. My partner and I will come get you," Jonas said, and then hung up.

I sat on the bench, brushing dirt off of my clothes, rubbing my hand over my face, and nodding off. I must have looked a mess – with my blood-crusted hair and wrinkled, soiled clothes – it was no wonder nobody came and sat down on the bench next to me, even though there was enough space for at least two more people.

Twenty five and a half minutes later, a white car pulled up in front of me. Jonas came out from the passenger door, and helped me up.

I got into the back seat, and the cool air-conditioned air immediately calmed my headache. I collapsed into the seat, exhausted. A tiny blonde was in the driver's seat, and she turned around to look at me with worried, baby blue eyes.

"Are you alright?" she squeaked. "I'm Liz, by the way. Cammie's my best friend. You're her boyfriend, right? It's nice to meet you. She's always needed someone to depend on, you know. You guys seem cute together. I'm glad she met you. It's so weird, huh? How you find your lovers on missions. And I'm sorry – I'm rambling. Cam always told me to stop that."

Liz bit her lip, and I chuckled. I already liked her.

"I'm Zach."

She was cute and a bit awkward, perfect for Jonas.

"You okay, man?" Jonas asked, shutting the passenger side door after sliding in.

I rubbed my temples. "Yea, Jo. Where are we?"

I looked at the clock – it was twelve in the afternoon.

"We're actually not that far from home, Zach," Jonas said.

I blinked.

But we had been in California...

Cammie and I had walked miles and miles. And we had been in a Circle helicopter, which was five times faster than a normal one.

"Wait!" Liz exclaimed, pulling out from the curb. "Where is Cammie?"

I was silent, guilt constricting my heart and closing up my throat, making it hard for me to breathe.

"I..." I started. I gnawed on the inside of my lip.

"Is she okay?" Liz asked frantically.

"No. Or...I don't know. She -" my voice caught. "My mother took her."

Liz blinked at me in the rear view mirror. "Your...your mother? What does she want with Cammie? Planning your wedding, or something?'

I made eye contact with Jonas. He let out a nod, saying that we could trust her.

"Yea, Liz. My mother. She's...she's the Circle's leader."

She slammed on the breaks. "Does Cammie know this?"

"Of course! I wouldn't keep something like this from her for so long."

Suddenly, I looked at Liz's wrists.

On her left arm, there was a hair tie.

"Liz?" I asked.

"Yea?" I never noticed until now, but she had a slight southern accent.

"That hair tie on your wrist...is it the one where you guys can pull open and send messages to each other?"

"It is!" Liz nodded proudly.

"Do you think you can use that and talk to Cammie?" I asked, getting excited again.

"I...well, we would need the device. Macey told me she took it from Gallagher and gave it to you guys. Do you know where it is?"

I racked my brain and tried to think back.

I couldn't remember. Where had Cammie and I left it? I cursed and closed my eyes, rubbing my temples again, trying to remember.

Cammie's life was on the line here, and I couldn't remember a stupid detail like this one.

"Zach? It's okay...Liz and I can just make a new one," Jonas assured me.

"It would slow us down, though," I muttered.

We pulled up to an unfamiliar house – probably Liz's – and we went inside. Liz went to get the first aid kid and started putting fast-healing ointment on my bruises and cuts.

She pulled out a cell phone.

"Mace? Please don't flip out on me, here – oopsy daisies!" she had knocked over the bottle of disinfectant alcohol for my cuts, and Jonas just rolled his eyes and picked it up for her, as if he were used to it. "Don't say anything yet, okay? You might want to sit down, darling. You sitting? Okay. Well...Cammie's been kidnapped. By the Circle. Stop!" I heard screaming on the other end, and I smiled softly at how much Cam's friends cared about her.

She needed more people like that in her life. "No! Stop! Just...I don't care! Please just listen to me, Macey! Grab Tristan and come to my house. Now! Operation Save Duchess and Chameleon is on."

"Tristan?" I looked at Jonas. "Our Tristan?"

He nodded, grinning. "Our Tristan."

A tall girl with thick, shiny black hair and icy blue eyes walked into the house, dragging an old friend of mine behind her by the hand.

"Zach? Good to see ya, man!"

I smirked back at him. "Can't say the same for you."

He rolled his eyes.

The girl, who I assumed was Macey, looked at me.

"You're Zach Goode?"

I nodded.

"You're Cammie's boyfriend?"

I nodded again.

"Well, since Cammie doesn't have a big brother or a dad, and Bex isn't here, I guess I'll have to be the one to say the threatening cliché line: You break her heart, I'll break your spinal chord."

I just stared at her.

"She's a keeper, Tris," I muttered.

He grinned and slung an arm around her shoulders. "Don't I know it."

Liz had finished cleaning up my cuts, and I moved from the table to the couch.

"Liz and I will start working on the device. Get some rest, okay Zach? Actually, scratch that. Take a shower, borrow some of my clothes, and then take a nap," Jonas told me.

I wanted to stay awake and help them – I wanted to contribute as much as I could to find Cammie, Bex and Grant.

But my head wouldn't stop pounding, and my brain was practically a useless lump in my skull.

So I trudged upstairs, listening to the sounds of my friends planning for the rescue below me.

Oh my god.

I am so sorry.

This chapter...was so incredibly boring I don't even know.

But it was stuff that needed to be in the story – I'm so sorry, guys. Please don't hate me. T_T

Okay.

Review or don't review.

I wouldn't blame you if you didn't.

Next chapter will be more interesting, I promise!

Thank you for reading.[: