I disclaim everything you know... Unfortunatly...
The 'safe-house' was seriously old, and equally decrepit. It had nearly 100 rooms, but only a few had been made accessible and safe. The grand kitchen, bathrooms on upstairs and downstairs, two servants quarters bedrooms, the observatory and a basement. Corridors were safe, but not clean.
The house would have been amazing in its day though. With golden chandeliers and double height rooms it set the image of a rich families Alpine get away.
"We have three rooms for us, you guys are going to be sharing bunks in the old observatory which we put there a few weeks ago. Bathroom is right next door." Joe directed them up the large sweeping staircase, half covering in dust sheets, and towards one of the only open doors. "You will be spending a lot of time together, get over it."
"How the hell did you get this!?" Grant laughed.
"My mother passed it down to my brother," Buckingham explained, "He is part of the MI5 and he leant it to me. It's in the French Alps."
"We have clothes for you all, and some basic toiletaries. I know Liz has a small bag of stuff from the dorm she thought you might all want. Also we have some modern things here, now we have adapted this place to suit our needs. Under the stairs in the cupboard is another staircase that leads down to a gym, also all doors are automatic locks and windows have one way glass in all we could be seen in."
"Thanks Joe." Grant grinned around but paused on Bex who smiled back. Cammie glanced at the others who all seemed to be fairly happy with their 'match'.
Preston and Macey were talking about decor in the White House animatedly together while they all trapsed up the final few stairs together and along the dark landing to their room. Liz and Jonas weren't talking but Liz was carrying her bags and Jonas was carrying one of hers too, they shared a smile a few times too.
Her eyes then landed on Zach, who was staring into each room as they passed, not paying the blindest bit of attention to their prep talk. Once they reached the end of the corridor they hopped up a couple of steps into their room. Macey walked in first and gasped, the others all had similar responses, except Zach who just stared and shrugged.
It was double height with an intricately decorated dark blue ceiling and one wall was mainly painted like the star system. The other wall had two large glass doors which led out onto the stone balcony. The beds were lined up in the middle of the room in a semi-circle of sorts with bedding folded up in a bag on it. It reminded Cammie of the stars over her grandparents house.
She would probably never see them again now.
"Train these girls up! They know the same languages as you, you will mainly need to work on spy stuff. You are each paired with your escape partner, easier that way." Joe nodded at them all but his eyes lingered on Zach. Zach looked round for Cammie and saw her sitting on the bed nearest the balcony. She wasn't listening to Joe and was gazing out of the old windows, nobody else had noticed but as Zach watched a tear slipped down her cheek. She slid off the bed and over to the double doors, opening them slightly she slid out onto the balcony. Zach ignored Joes continuing rant and followed her.
He stood behind her for a second, wondering what to say. He had never dealt well with females in general but he couldn't let her stay like this, he didn't need another situation like his own on this team.
"Why'd you follow me?" Cammie didn't look at Zach but in the sunset he could just see her wipe away the tears and attempt change her facial expression.
"You don't have to act." Zach stepped out of the shadows and lent against the solid stone of the barrier next to her, "And tears are normal."
This seemed to change something in Cammie, her sadness suddenly flipped into uncontrollable anger. She wanted to rage at Zach, he had no idea! He wouldnt understand at all!
"What would you know about losing your parents!? Your mother is very much alive, so alive she…she…"
Zach sighed sadly and looked down at his hands.
"Catherine isn't my mother, she may have given birth to me but in every other way she isn't my mother. I have never ever known my Dad, I barely remember anything from my childhood, it was all one big blur of being beaten until I ran away. I class myself as a parentless child."
"You don't understand Zach, I have NOBODY!" She was probably being a bit harsher than she needed to be but her emotions were all over the place right now, of course she was acting weird.
"The girls…" Zach turned to face her, she was looking out over the lake that the house was near. Another tear glistened on her cheek but she didn't wipe it away, instead it slowly fell onto her blazer.
"Are always there, I can rely on them but I don't have anyone like to care for me when I fall over in the street. To be sympathetic when I bang my head off a wall. They are always like sisters when its serious but because of…everything… they don't see the little things that end up hurting the most."
"Joe…" Zach started but he already knew the answer, Joe cared but he loved his job too much. Cammie was probably just another piece of paperwork in his eyes, he wanted to care but the job came first.
"He left me alone. The first thing he has done for me is send a load of Agents into school to save me! Why am I even talking to you like this?! You have no idea and I don't even know you! You could be here to kill me for all I… I… I know." She threw her hands up in the air in annoyance and ran them though her hair a few times, trying to calm down enough to put her walls back up.
When that didn't work she started to pace backwards and forwards, breathing heavily. She began to knot her hands and then unwind them again, they were all red with scraped parts down the sides...
How often is this girl like this?! Too much...
Zach stepped forward and caught her wrists to stop her. She wriggled and fought against him but he managed to place the back of her hand onto his palm. Curious, she stopped fighting and just watched as he slowly prised all her fingers down to comfortable.
"This is what my foster mum used to do to me when I came back from training," Zach ran a finger along her palm and onto her wrist, he then followed the bones of her hands doing the same thing, "I would come back with bloody knuckles and bruised fists from punching a bag too much. I would get worked up over Catherine and end up fighting at school. She spoke to Joe and he enrolled me on the CIA Young Blood training course. I was 10 and the day I left was the last time I saw her."
"How did you cope? Without a mum?" Cammie's voice was softer again, she just watched as Zach finished one hand and started the next.
"Well I found out about Catherine being such a monster when I was 8 we think, I ran away very soon after. I was found by Daisy, my foster mum, asleep next to the river in a tree. I had only been gone 4ish days but was still very cold and hungry. She took me in with her husband, I grew up in Washington with them. After a while Daisy noticed my strange reaction pattern and the fact I had an urge to fight whenever anyone annoyed me, so she started me in Karate and Boxing. Henry also said I was almost silent in my secrets and had very few friends. They got a letter from Joe saying he was interested in me and to begin with they ignored him. But then I became violent at school too and they sent a letter back. Daisy always assumed I had a dark background and Henry assumed I was ill or mad. I went off to the CIA and I said 'Love you' to them both. It was the first and last time I have ever done."
"Are they still alive?"
"No, Catherine killed them in her hunt for me." Zach tried to keep his emotion out of his voice, but it dipped into the corners of his words and Cammie obviously noticed but kept quiet about it.
"Why are you telling me all of this?" Cammie tilted her head inquisitvely at Zach as he finished her second hand and finally looked up at her.
Her eyes were sad but gave away her inquisitiveness with a touch of something he couldn't tell.
"I feel like you're the only person that would understand." Zach turned away from Cammie and leant on the stone again looking out across the lake which was reflecting the last of the sun's feeble rays. He notice Cammie was closer to him this time, she wasn't flinching, or shoving him away. Their shoulders were almost touching and Zach had a weird urge to wrap his arm around her, to protect her, he ignored it.
"We're different to them." She almost sighed, "We have nobody to turn to when things go wrong. To put a plaster on our knee when we fall down the stairs."
"I suppose, I try to ignore those things. My issues get eclipsed by fighting for my life or killing others. Remember I'm nearly an adult, and have been a spy for years... But after 7 years of not having it, it does build up on you." He sighed and let himself slouch down, his heart sinking.
"It's killing me after 1 year 2 months!" Cammie sighed and turned to face Zach before noticing how close he was. Her stomach fluttered and she internally cursed, why did he affect her so much? He turned to face her too, they were about 5 inches apart and Cammie looked at his dark eyes. They were a deep green that faded to grass green at the edges; his dark hair flopped over his face which had a certain 'I've-been-though-enough' look that made Cammie's heart melt.
"CAMMIE?" Bex's voice cut through the peaceful air like a carving knife, "YOU CAN STOP HIDING NOW!" The doors flew open and the two people outside spun round, facing the two in the doorway.
"Bex, if you were any louder I think an Avalanche would start 50 miles away." Cammie's face had changed again, it had become alive and 16 year oldy, even if her eyes betrayed her. Bex reached forward and grabbed Cammie's wrist pulling her away, she glanced back at Zach who smirked at her before she disappeared inside. Grant however stayed outside, kicking the door shut lazily he looked at Zach before grinning like an idiot.
"That Baxter chic! God she is totally amazing. She looks like a goddess, is loyal, stubborn, strong and I bet she is a great kisser!" Grant took a breath and let the grin slide off his face at the sight of his friend. Zach stood where Cammie had been, looking at the small bubble of water on the flat stone. A tear. Zach put his finger in it and it burst, leaving a small amount of black mascara on his finger.
Grant wandered forward, wanting to help but not being entirely sure how to.
"What's up mate? Life getting to you again? I bet there is some beer in this place somewhere, I can go… You don't need alcohol do you? You want a certain brown eyed girl back don't you?" He wiggled his eyebrows.
"I don't want her in bed!" Zach headed off Grant early.
"Please don't tell me you just want to hug her! Or like be all flirty with her in a weird way!" Zach noticed the way Grants eyes flickered as he said it, he obviously felt that feeling for somebody, probably Bex. Grant put his head in his hands, "Well as you haven't denied you want her, what for?"
"You make Cammie sound like an object, she is a human being." Zach scowled slightly at his best friend.
"Oh crap, need to dial 911! We got a lovesick teenager over here!" Grant joked and Zack half smiled before rolling his eyes. Staring back off into the distance, his arms flopping down onto the ledge.
"No, I just want her to be safe and loved. Anything to stop her becoming me. " Zach finally faced Grant who was wearing his 'Zack-is-being-himself-not-the-cocky-thing' face, "She isn't coping…"
"…but she…" Grant was frowning, he had an Above Average IQ... But he never used it.
"…her friends help her hide it from everyone but from the way Bex reacted when Cammie had a nightmare in the van I think that happens regularly. She knew what to say, what to do and how to do it. The fact in Liz's bag she has two lots of beauty stuff, one marked 'Macey and Bex' the other marked 'Cammie's'. Now does Cammie look like the sort of girl needing a double bag of makeup to herself? No. They are masking her. The fact that when we arrived in our room Liz started looking at the locks on all the doors and talking to Jonas about internal locking systems for the room. These girls are fighting to keep the world seeing Cammie as a normal, if slightly sad, teenager." Zach looked back across the lake as Grant inhaled and exhaled in a shocked way.
"How can they hide it from us?"
"I have no idea, but I know they will try. These girls are smart, loyal and fierce. I would particularly liken Macey to a female tiger; I think Preston has his work cut out getting her to trust him. Bex also is a blumin' fighter, like a lioness! She is going to fight to keep her pride in one piece and safe. Liz doesn't look it but I can guess that if you mess with Cammie than she will poison your food or something…"
"…or throw her laptop at us."
"Good point."
"Are we going to try to win them over? To like get them to trust us? "
"No, we become their equals."
"I am not sinking down to some school girl! They can rais…" Zach held up a finger simply and Grant fell silent.
"We have to rise, we all fight to survive, and for a boss and cause we are told to and think nothing of it. They fight as a team, for a cause that they believe in." Zach glanced at Grant and saw his eyes were glazed over staring past Zach's shoulder to another pair of doors on the other end of the balcony. Spinning round Zach saw Bex and Macey watching them, Macey was leaning against the stone, smirking in a 'i-told-you-so' way and Bex's mouth was hanging open in a very unflattering style. Grant didn't seem to mind though.
"When did you arrive? How much did you…"
"Enough to ship you and Cammie as much as I want to kill you." Macey's smirk grew into a grin and Zach was glad it was becoming dark so nobody saw his slight smirk slide back.
"Why do you even care Zach? I am still ready to batter you into oblivion if you even as much as lay a finger on Cammie to hurt her…" Bex glared, jutting her hip out in a sassy way.
"I will repeat this as much as you like, I would never hurt Cammie. She has been through enough." Zach watched Bex's face intently, it softened then, as if she realised what her muscles had done, it hardened again.
"Macey? Bex?" Liz's voice carried across the still night, almost like Bex's had a few minutes ago, but it was scared rather than annoyed.
"What Bizzy Lizzie?" Macey called back, there was a sound of somebody yelling but Zach couldn't quite hear it, "OUTFIT EMERGENCY!... OH MY GOD MOVE OUT MY WAY!" Macey pushed Bex aside and flew through the doors, grabbing Bex's wrist at last minute making her fly though as well, the door closing on the back of her head.
Grant rolled his eyes and pulled Zach over to the doors, he turned the door knob and was about to enter when four sets of clothes, two boys and a girl flew towards them. Zach managed to catch Preston and Jonas before they catapulted over the edge and they all turned to the girl.
"OUT THIS REQUIRES FEMALE WORK!" Macey screamed before shutting the door and pulling the blinds.
Hopefully this will be a long long story, but between this and my Alex Rider one (Ribena) i am stuck for time. Thank you people x