This is Prompt No. 75-Autumn
Summer soon gave way to autumn, bringing the smell of burning leaves down through the many levels of dirt so that the aroma permeated the base. Mitchie groaned and teased Shane, "Why do the armies have to burn the leaves above our base?" she would ask, pinching her nose.
And every time she asked, he would reply with a wink and say, "Hang in there, Mitchie. It's the Confederates trying to smoke us out." To which she would always laugh because he was probably right.
The UUS had made a substantial amount of progress throughout the summer and had foiled a few plots by the Confederates. Yet, there where quite a few days that a team would come slinking into the base, embarrassed because their information had caused more damage to the Union than good.
Mitchie went on several missions throughout the summer. The Confederates had killed one of the Union's main officers, so a mission came through to kill one of the Confederates' generals. Mitchie had shaken her head and had refused to take on the assignment. "I refuse to kill someone unless it's absolutely necessary," she had said.
"It is absolutely necessary!" the general had exclaimed as he held the file out to her.
No amount of coaxing could move her iron will, so in the end, Mitchie stayed in her room, waiting for Shane and Caitlyn to come back from doing the deed. To her, it was a relief to see the sadness that still came over their faces. It showed Mitchie that all the horrors they had experienced had not left them untouched.
She did notice, however, that being a spy changed a person. She noticed that she was always looking over her shoulder to make sure that she wasn't being followed. She practiced more and more with her weapons in case of a surprise attack. But the greatest change she noticed was that she felt more comfortable in a pair of trousers and a shirt than she did in the skirts she had worn all her life.
Shane asked her once, "Do you regret agreeing to do this?"
Mitchie paused, weighing her words. "Well…" she said slowly, trying to be diplomatic.
"You can tell me the truth," Shane told her. "I want to know the truth."
Mitchie nodded and thus responded truthfully, "Maybe a little. I think that I just want to feel normal for a while again. I miss being 'normal.'"
Shane nodded and looked thoughtful, but he didn't mention the subject again for a while.
A/N: Sorry about this chapter being so short. It's one of those transitional chapters that there's absolutely nothing to write about, but that have to be in there! Know what I mean? So please, don't be mad, but review and tell me what you thought! :D
