I dont own anything you know.

*Chapter 32*

Cammie shut one eye and tried to forget the tingling sensation in her waist as Zach steadied it with his hands. Slowly pulling the trigger she fired the gun, it jerked back but she tensed her muscles and stopped herself moving, Zach peered over her shoulder and whispered in her ear,

"Bulls eye." Cammie grinned and reloaded the gun, Zach stole it off her and fired too, "Woop, another bulls eye." Zach placed the gun on the table infront of them and turned to face Cammie. They were in a large room which was only accessible via one of the meeting rooms, a lift and a print scanner. It was called, 'Range' and was part of an unknown sublevel 1. Only the teachers hand prints would let anybody in, well until Jonas and Liz spent at least a day hacking it to let all of them in too. It was a large room with pale blue tile floors, white walls and little booths along it, a table ran the width of the room and a large cupboard had all the guns stored in it. In the last four booths were 8 people, four boys and four girls and four pistols. The rifles lay dis-guarded on the floor after they had all mastered them. Bex and Grant were in the frosted booth next to them, Bex's outline stood with the pistol while Grant's outline helped her. Jonas and Liz were firing and Macey and Preston were discussing types of gun and how to fire them.

"Smile Cammie, we have three days until Christmas."

"Oh, yes…" Cammie glanced up at Zach for a second before looking down, he put his arms around her and she wrapped her arms around his waist letting the tears slide down her cheeks silently. Christmas, the time to remember that she had no family. Zach didn't either, but he had the CIA, he had his team. Cammie got four presents every year, no more, no less. Normally a book, or diary from Joe, makeup from Macey, a book from Liz and some clothes or foreign scarf from Bex. She kept them all very safe and she had realised on the 20th that Joe had gone.

"Hey, its fine. We are all a team now, you did all go shopping didn't you?"

"Yes," Cammie spluttered, "Not another t-shirt."

"I don't care about my t-shirt, Cam, you have a family again us. Come on, we are all here."

"Mum… Dad…" Cammie coughed and her legs gave way under her, Zach caught her and lowered her to the ground more slowly. The noise echoing around the room covered the sound of her sobs, and when music began to blare from Bex's area and Cammie gave up trying to be dignified. She buried her face into Zach's dark blue t-shirt. He rested his chin on her head and pulled her into his chest. A smell of metal, forest and something sexy she didn't recognise came from the cotton, calming her and making her feel safe and home.

"How do you cope Zach?"

"Because it was my choice to go, I wasn't forced to. I knew what I was doing and factored in everything, including leaving you. Something about going over the boundary made me forget everything about you, which made it even eaiser…"

"Abby's serum."

"But I knew I might never have a Christmas or birthday again, you didn't have a choice, they were forced away from you." Cammie nodded and slowly the tears turned to red cheeks and coughing. Zach helped her to her feet and they slid silently behind the other groups and out into the lift, they didn't activate it. Cammie just looked at herself in the mirror, the stark light overhead outlined the dark patches under her eyes which were barely covered by concealer, her pale face expertly covered by Macey. It felt wrong, everything felt wrong with her face, she began to scratch at it Zach didn't even hesitate. Catching her clawing hands he trapped one of them in between two of his hands and slowly stroked her fingers, Cammie looked up at him, her eyes streaming again.

"What did I do to deserve you?" She spluttered, Zach half smiled and took her other hand, "I am…"

"Human Cammie, just human. You are scared, lost and human. I don't deserve you, so I guess we are quits."

"Why am I such a wreck?"

"You have been through hell and back, would you mind if Liz and Jonas used their sleep stuff on you tonight? You look exhausted and you need sleep."

"Fine, I don't care." Cammie wiped under her eyes again just as the lift doors jerked open, Bex stood with her hands on her hips looking at them, Cammie closed her eyes and Zach saw Bex's expression change instantly.

"Cam?" She stepped into the lift and kicked away Grant who was trying to see what was going on, "Hey, hey it's alright."

"Murderer, murderer." Cammie continued to repeat over and over, Zach stepped away, thinking she would be safer with Bex and not somebody who was also a murderer, a traitors son, somebody as pure as her didn't deserve.

"Oh no you don't," Bex muttered grabbing Zach's t-shirt pulling him back, he sighed knowing he was getting a Baxter integration, "What on earth has happened?"

"She remembered it was 3 days until Christmas."

"Why the hell are you sulking off then!?" The lift doors shut with the others on one side, Cammie had stopped crying, just, and was looking at Zach with a look of betrayal."

"You wouldn't…"

"I understand a damn lot more than you think!" Bex yelled at him, Zach's stomach flipped and he felt he had to get away, he saw hurt in her and Cammie's eyes. He reached for Cammie, trying to explain how he was dirty but she backed away. "Explain now."

"It's black on white." Zach said, ignoring Bex he looked at Cammie. Her eyes were wide, she opened her mouth to speak but Zach ignored her for the first and last time ever. He opened the lift, ignored the other team members and walked off deeper into the Sublevel. It was light and bright most the way though, with stainless steel everywhere and bright lights. He could hear his name being called behind him, probably by Bex, but he could tell they wouldn't follow. They never did when he was like this.

He placed his hand on the scanner and walked into a small chamber, he placed his hand on again, then looked into a small flashing device in the wall. The second door opened onto a much darker corridor, it had stone walls and a concrete floor. Along the corridor were doors alternating between ones with 3 locks and a small bared window and a regular wooden door. Zach stepped into the nearest one and looked to see a mean looking boy glaring at the glass from a desk and chair. It wasn't glass to him, it was a mirror, but he had obviously worked out what was going on. He held a letter in his hand and if Zach stood to one side of the glass and looked he could just read it,

Dear Harvey,

We are all missing you very much at home, we will be sending you presents for Christmas like normal. Dan keeps be annoying, he keeps on invading your room. Is going to be 18th for Kitty soon, do you remember her birthday January 12th.

Love you, mum xx

Zach read it and then noticed small amounts of red around some words, re-reading it he stumbled backwards reaching for the door.

Dear Harvey,

We will be invading 18th January.

Love you, mum xx

The way Harvey clutched at the note though made Zach think it was probably not his mother's note, and the handwriting made his blood boil, Catherine. The door opened behind him, knocking him to the floor, he didn't try to scramble up, his head hurt too much.

"Zach?" It was Cammie, she pushed the door lightly and stepped inside closing it, "Before you ask, I tailed you."

"They are going to invade." Zach spluttered, "They are coming, they know, they know."

"What?!" Cammie dropped down next to him, helping him to his feet she followed him to the spot and read the letter too, "No, no, no, no, no, no."

"No." Zach agreed, "This means we have to soon."

"It does… It does." Cammie nodded, she turned to him, "Also I understand, but I'm black too, remember?"

"No, you don't act like it…"

"Zach, I had another one of those flashbacks last night. Since we could hold a gun they have been training us to shoot, it's how come we are so good, seriously Catherine has been training us to be spies and assassins before we left." Cammie took Zach's hand and lead him out, "We need to tell the others, we need to get everyone safe."

"How! Everyone hates us Cammie, all the students."

"I think you forget, sisters might argue but if I tell them guys you are all about to die they will believe me and take it seriously. They don't like you four, but they put up with us four as we are sisters." She dragged him out the room, her fingernails digging into his wrist as she pulled him faster and faster until they were running through the maze and into the range. The lights flashed overhead and a flickering one made Zach's hair stand on end, it reminded him forcefully of the IRA headquarters and the torture. He shook his hand and began to ran next to Cammie, leading her though the tunnels until they skidded out onto the range. The others all stopped talking and looked at them, Zach glanced down at his feet as Cammie spoke.

"The circle are preparing to attack! They are coming on the 18th, read it on Harvey's letter…" Cammie stopped to breath and Zach carried on for her,

"… We need to stop it." Zach finally looked up at them to see all of their faces locked in shock, determination and in Bex's case a small amount of annoyance.

"The ball…"

"We will be going to the ball, don't worry!" Preston sighed as he turned to Macey to see her grinning at him, this was obviously a regular conversation. He rolled his eyes at the others who grinned.

\_ ( 0^0 )_/

"Zach, what are we going to do?" The soft sound of footsteps reverberated around the hall as Cammie stood staring at the doors, she didn't turn around but she knew he was there.

"I don't know Cam." Zach stood at the top of the stairs behind her, the light catching on his eyes, only the emergency lights were on, casting a dull grey green light over the huge room. Her hair seemed blonder than normal in this light and her huge black t-shirt and shorts made her appear almost mystical.

"The others do though." Cammie said, as if to herself, but Zach heard every word in the silence.

"They hope they do, I have learnt plans are the base of the real world, the real world can't be planned, not when you're a spy." Zach stepped up behind her and stood next to them, both looking at the huge doors that now had 15 security systems, an energy field (prototype from Fibbs's lab) and 2 meter thick solid doors.

"They want us to disappear after this, forget about each other forever and leave."

"But we…"

"I won't do that. They can make you do it though, they want to send you to Mossad in Israel and…"

"I'm not going, don't worry."

"But the CIA will force you Zach, they know everything. I stole your file again, to see it again and I read it, they added a new bit of paper. That."

"I still have 2 terms of work left until they can send me anywhere. I think they want to send me back to school after this, to recuperate and then they will send me away."

"Zach?"

"Yeh?"

"I love you." Cammie said, she didn't look at him, but she took his hand and he smiled to himself.

"I love you too." Zach pulled her to him and kissed her forhead, she rested her head on his chest and smiled, "But please go back to bed, Bex is going mad because she thinks its another nightmare."

"But I didn't run."

"Yeh, I know, doesn't mean that she doesn't think that, come on Cam its 1:48 in the morning."

"I don't care, I'm not tired."

"Can I knock you out again?"

"Okay." Cammie brushed her hair from her neck and Zach gently put a patch over her vein, her eyes closed and she fell backwards into her boyfriend's waiting arms.

"It's Christmas Eve Cam, it's the first Christmas you will have with family for a long time." Zach almost spoke to himself, knowing Cammie was fast asleep and would only wake in either 12 hours or when they took the patch off. "I love you so much." He muttered finally as he carried her back up the stairs to bed, the room was as quiet as before when Zach re-entered. Bex was the only one still awake; she nodded when she saw them and lay down to sleep. Zach gently placed Cammie on her bed and pulled the covers over her still body, remembering how he had done the same when he thought she had gone forever. He remembered Townsend, who had been posing as a doctor, come over and load her onto a stretcher, Zach had taken the white cloth from him and pulled it over her inert face and only half closed eyes.

He half gagged at this, forcing the memory away he climbed into his own bed and wished for a brighter future for her. If he really way being sent away, possibly forever, he at least wanted every last second of them together to count, no more arguments like earlier, every single second. With that comforting thought he closed his eyes.

"CAMMIE! WAKE UP! WAKEY WAKEY, ITS CHRISTMAS!" Macey started towards her to wake her up, Zach shook his head,

"She will be confused, she always is. Give me one second." He knelt down next to her and slowly pulled away the sticker, putting his hand on the top in what looked like a random place. Smiled and shook Cammies shoulder gentally, she shot upright, her eyes flying open. Her head, instead of hitting the bunk above, hit Zach's hand.

"Murderer! Murder… Zach…" Cammie smiled at him and hugged him around the neck, "Thanks." She muttered in his ear.

"I wouldn't move your legs, it might cause some damage." Cammie glanced at her feet and gasped.

"Oh my god… Its Christmas." She grinned at the 7 people around her, and the 7 presents at the bottom of her bed, "You waited for me?"

"Of course, it's a time for family. Get up, I want to see what my presents are." Macey grinned and dragged Cammie un-ceremoniously out of bed. Everyone departed and brought their piles to the middle of the mat. 5 minutes, 18 'I love you's, 21 squeals from Macey, 22 squeals from Bex and a very adorable moment when Grant actually said he loved Bex to her, for real, later Cammie sat with a number of presents.

A fashionable t-shirt from Grant,
A designer makeup set from Macey,
A foreign scarf and silk from Bex,
A set of Nuclear Electronics books from Liz,
A pretty bracelet and charm from Preston,
A laptop sticker/decal from Jonas,
And the last one Cammie wasn't allowed to open. She had un-wrapped it, but the simple black box was clean, sheer and basic with a post-it note on it which said in scruffy writing.

Open when you know when. Zach x

Cammie placed the box under her bed and put a blanket over it. She attempted to forget it existed to cover her want to know what's inside, she wandered out of the circle and threw on a t-shirt and skirt, and she didn't bother with makeup and smiled at them all saying she would be back in 5 minutes. The girls all nodded, knowing that every Christmas Cammie did this, and they would give her some privacy for it. Zach tried to stand up but Bex pulled him back down and then pulled Grant over to sit on him.

Cammie let the door swing shut behind her and she padded her way along the corridor, ignoring the shoes in her hand. Doors were open, and the boys looked at her as she passed, tears beginning to form in her eyes but the girls pulled them away knowing Cammie didn't want pity.

"Let me out." Cammie said calmly to the guards at the door, one of them shook his head.

"Can't miss… Orders from…"

"Let her out." Professor Buckingham's voice came from behind; she sat in a wheelchair, pale. The guards nodded and let Cammie pass though. She climbed into the lift and stopped once the doors were shut. The burning behind her eyes was hot and painful, her chest was burning hot and her whole body was shaking with grief. She didn't want to run, but she knew what she had to do. She stepped out of the huge lift and into the biting cold air.

The wind whipped her hair making her face sting as it hit. Her flimsy skirt and jacket not keeping her from the cold, the soft settling of snow over the ground from the night before made her feet even colder. He couldn't see or hear, she just walked to the nearest tree and attempted to get her knife from her pocket.

"Cammie!?" A male voice behind her called, Zach stood at the door to the hut looking around. Cammie didn't want to talk though, this was her first Christmas being a murderer, this needed to be a painful Christmas. She stumbled into the line of hedges and brought the knife out at last, catching her knuckles as she got it out. A small line of red trickled onto the white snow, she found a decent tree and stabbed it with her knife. She tried to get it back out but the cold was setting in, just do it Cameron, she told herself. She tried to pull it out but she must have stabbed more than she thought, she tugged again as it started to snow, the wind making it into menacing shapes. She closed her eyes and pulled again. Something warm appeared at her back, it wrapped around her and the hands helped her tug at the knife, this time it came free.

Zach didn't question what she was doing but he did drape the spare jumper around her shoulders as she set to work again, she carved 7 words into the wood.

Matthew and Rachel Morgan

Never ever forgotten

Once she had finished she tucked the knife back away and turned around, Zach could see tear marks on her face, he knees gave way and she landed in the snow. Slowly picking her up, so not to alarm her, he carried her back to the hut. She just stayed curled up in his arms, shaking from tears and cold. He navigated his way through the door and set her down on the sofa.

"Your freezing." He muttered to her as the room began to move, taking off his jacket he draped it round her shoulders. The lift jammed to a stop and Zach helped Cammie up and out, they moved slightly louder than usual though the corridors, as Cammies legs were still shaking slighty from cold. Zach didn't ask questions, as he knew the answers. Just outside the door they stopped,

"Every year, that's why the girls never stop me letting myself catch hyperthermia."

"Why do you not go prepared for cold?"

"When my parents died, it was December for my dad and new year for my mum. The cold is my remembering how it felt on those days."

"You are an idiot." Zach muttered as he pulled her into a bone crushing hug the Baxter's would be proud of. He pushed open the door and let Bex and the others also hug her to death, Grant just shook his head at them all as Zach went and stood next to him.

"I'm surprised Cam hasn't asked why I was acting weird when she woke up." Grant grumbled, it had been ages since then and it had obviously been on his mind for a while.

"She's read all our files." Zach sighed, that's the reason she never asks questions about any of us anymore.

"So she…" Grant turned to him, eyes wide and for once his best friend looks scared.

"No, I took that part out of your file when I went through them the first time, she will only know if you tell her." Zach smiled at him, "I would never tell her, Bro Code still exists in spies." They chuckled and watched the girls check over Cammie.

"BOYS OUT!" Macey squealed from her bed for the 5th time, "I have told you like 1000 times!"

"And she never exagurrates." Preston muttered to them as they slouched out.

"Its 4 o'clock, you better be in that room for the ball and not playing 'Fallout 4' or 'Splinter Cell'. Right, your bags are already in there, GO AWAY AND LOOK HOT!" Bex yelled after them down the corridor, Zach glanced back to see Cammie blow him a sarcastic kiss and then the door slam shut.

Sorry about the maddeningly long wait, i've been exeedingly busy with Christmas comming up and me being cheif Elf.

Well, its Christmas Day in this, so i will post a special chapter tomorrow on the special day tomorrow, as a Christmas Present to my special followers who have helped me along with this amazing story, and i am very truthful to say. I couldnt have done it without you, all of you.

bubzchoc- Thanks, you are one of my very special people, and thank you so much for reviewing.

gabergirl- If you liked that this must be killing you. Your another one of my offical special people, i need a name for you lot, any ideas?

Thats all for last chapter, so if you want a shoutout i have space to, or anything. (83 reviews people! Can you believe it!)

Love yall, charlie xx