I know I've probably got a few things wrong in this chapter, but I haven't read Cherub in ages and I'm seriously jet lagged from my holiday, so please bear with me! Also, sorry for the wait, like I said before, I was on holiday.

Hope you like it, and again, please review!

Cherub...

Nothing To Lose..

The dark lump swathed in a bundle of cloth on the bed grunted and rolled over onto it's side. With a gasp, Cherry jumped up from the bed clutching her ribs and moaned. Her first dreamless night in months, and she had been woken up from a stupid injury. She looked at the clock beside her. Five in the morning. Grabbing a pillow, she buried her face into it and screamed her frustration, before rolling off the bed and going into the bathroom. She stripped off the dirty clothes, and climbed into the shower. Her favourite shampoos and conditioners were there, and she didn't know whether or not to be pleased or scared. But there wasn't anything she could do about it for now, and so she used them, allowing the hot water to relax her muscles, and lessen the pains from the day before. Grimacing, she remembered the last test and wondered briefly if it would affect her being let into Cherub. She knew that there wasn't a thing she could do about it if she wasn't fit for Cherub, but she couldn't go back to that home, not now she knew about this place. Did they even notice her absence? Probably not, she had disappeared for four days and nights before, and only got a quick rebuff from the house mothers. Her roommate might've, but Jane was never one to miss Cherry. Shaking the disturbing thought that there would be no one to miss her out of her head, she stepped out of a shower and dried quickly.

Putting on the dirty uniform felt like a punishment, and she checked in the other room first to see if there were any new clothes there. Just before she was about to give up and put on the dirty uniform, she noticed there were new clothes on the bed that definitely hadn't been there before her shower. She looked around suspiciously, snatching the clothes up and running into the bathroom. Changing quickly, she did her hair, before noticing a small device near the sink.

"My Ipod!" Cherry squealed delightedly, shoving the headphones in and blaring music into her ears. Was it too early to go? She didn't put make up on, it was her features or nothing, and she didn't want to disguise herself with the junk that most girls wore, so she had a lot of free time normally. It was 5:17 a.m. Sighing, she walked out of the door. No one was in the corridor, but she could remember the way to the reception. Gliding down the flights of stairs, she pulled her Ipod out of her ears and slotted it into her boots, like she had done in Lancashire to avoid getting it stolen. Of course, she had stolen it herself, but who knew that?

"Hello dear, did you sleep well?" The receptionist asked, too cheery for this time in the morning. Still, Cherry nodded politely, and the woman led her back to Mac's office. Cherry knocked three times.

"Enter." The voice answered. She didn't know why, but that small command seemed oddly ominous. Pushing the door open, she slid in and closed the door behind her. Her feet seemed to move on their own as she walked to a seat in front of him. Mac sighed, crossing his arms over the desk and clasping his hands together.

"Now Cherry, how do you think you did?" He asked Cherry. She pondered for a moment.

"I think I did good on the first test, because I won overall and didn't get badly hurt. I'm not sure about the test, but I can normally scrape a pass on timed tests. The third test I must've passed, because I killed the chicken, didn't I? The fourth I completed and the fifth I know that I failed." She said, getting less positive as her words went on.

"Well, you did excellent on the first test, Bruce is one of our best fighters, and you beat him. You also gave in when he threatened you with a serious injury, which is a problem a lot of our agents have. The second test, you did remarkably well on, scoring much higher than average. The third test went without a hitch, and you killed the chicken without getting squeamish. You did complete the fourth test, but unfortunately have to agree with you on the fifth test." He said, spreading his hands out, as if apologizing. She closed her eyes, letting her hair cover her face.

"Despite that, we would like to offer you a place at Cherub, should you choose to accept," He said softly, and she looked up sharply. "It just means that you need to work on that fear before you join basic training, which is in two weeks time. Should you choose to join Cherub, you will need to head over to the main building for a check up."

"Even so, you'll need to go back to your Lancashire care home for a couple of days."

Cherry was grinning now, happy that she finally belonged somewhere. She could already feel this place becoming a home.

"I want to join." She said quickly, excitedly. Mac laughed and sent her on her way.

She went for the check up, and had surprised the doctor. She had had all of the shots except for two, and her physical state was in his words 'perfect'. She already knew that her abs were pronounced, faint lines tracing her stomach, showing muscle definition. He smiled and sent her on her way. She went back to her room, enjoying the rare British sun on her skin as she walked. She skipped up the stairs, a stupid grin on her face, and burst into her room. She saw the pale blue uniform already laid out on her bed, and slid into it stupendously fast.

The rest of the morning passed in a blur, exploring her new home and having people come up to her and congratulating her. At lunch, she sat in the same space as the day before, this time with an apple and banana in front of her. Cherry took a bite out of the sweet red apple, better tasting than any apple she had been given in that home. Her thoughts drifted as she thought about having to go back there, until she was interrupted by a hand tapping her on the shoulder. Turning quickly, she felt automatically dwarfed as she looked upwards at the face. The guy had to be at least 6'5". But other than that, she felt a strange feeling, and recognized him in an instant as the guy she had seen the other day. Cherry was stunned, speechless.

"You're in my seat." He grumbled, the low sound coming straight from his chest. Shaking her head, Cherries eyes tightened defensively.

"Really, how interesting." She mused, taking another bite of apple and moving around in the seat. "I think I like this seat, too." Cherry smiled sweetly up at him. He glared at her, before turning away. She sighed, taking another bite of apple.

Suddenly, arms constricted around her, and with a yelp, she felt the floor disappear beneath her. Being airborne was a strange feeling; as soon as you noticed the absence of gravity, you came crashing back down. She slid onto her side, winded. The boy went to walk back to his seat, not appearing to notice the whole cafeteria had gone silent. Cherry, still on the floor, lunged forward and took out his legs. He fell forwards, and she used his weight to straddle his waist, pinning his arms down with her hands.

"I think you owe me an apology." She said coldly, made of stone. He didn't try to wriggle, his whole body slumping inwards. She smirked at him, relaxing slightly. But abruptly, he propelled his weight onto her, flipping Cherry onto her back and pinning her arms under his knees. She could feel the uncomfortable sensation of her circulation being cut off.

"Oh, really?" He smirked at her, cocking one eyebrow up. She noticed he had a lip ring then, and couldn't draw her eyes away from it. Suddenly he pulled himself off, and she jumped up. While he was preoccupied, Cherry grabbed the seat. She looked over and saw a teacher walk in and realised just how close they had been to getting caught.

The rest of the day was spent dawdling, listening to music and reading. When she got back to her room, Cherry saw with delight that her nose ring had been returned. She put it back in, and dropped onto the bed, exhausted. The next time she woke up, she would wake back in her Lancashire home.