Okay...ten months. That's a record for me. I haven't been on FanFiction in TEN months. Call me crazy, but I think that calls for a chapter. We may finally be able to get some answers in this chapter! Don't kill me, though, because I've known the ending for about eight months now...and I haven't written it. I feel like I've failed you all. I beg your forgiveness.

IMPORTANT: Remember there are time differences between Athens and Gallagher! Gallagher is about six or seven (maybe more) hours behind Athens! Keep that in mind for this chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own the Gallagher Girls series or Athens, Greece (obviously). I do own everything else.

Day 3

Time 11:04 pm

Place: Gallagher Infirmary

Abby POV

"What's going on?" I burst into Cammie's hospital room after getting an urgent page from Rachel.

I see nurses rushing around and tubes coming out of Cammie like tendrils. Her vitals, I notice, have dipped severely since I stopped by last just a half hour ago. Rachel is talking with the head doctor of the Infirmary, her expression grave. She looks like death, having not slept at all in three days. Yet, her composure is one of business. It is one of a mother who has entered crisis mode, spy or not.

I walk over to the pair just as they are wrapping up their conversation. Rachel turns to me, her eyes glazed. I can tell she's close to crying. She gives me that look that says, "Please don't make me cry."

"Tell me what you know," I say to her.

Rachel breathes in deep, exhales, and then begins. "Her vitals just suddenly dropped about twenty minutes ago. It's like her body was sustaining and then it just gave out. She's in critical condition. The doctor doesn't know if she'll survive until tomorrow. He says, at most, she has twelve hours."

"That's not enough time!" I yell. "It's impossible to get back from Athens that quick. Let alone find the information and get back!"

"Don't you think I know that, Abigail!" Rachel has lost it. Tears start spilling and her voice raises an octave to 'hysterical.' She's losing her daughter; I'm losing my niece. Now is not the time for a sister fight.

"Rachel, we need to calm down. We do nothing by freaking out. Think, Rach, think!"

"Call the group. Let them know they have twelve hours at most to complete the mission. If not, I fear the worst."

With glum expressions and gloomy feelings, we exit the room together, feeling like we are preparing for a funeral.

Day 4

Time: 5:09 am

Place: The Third Base in Athens, Greece

Zach POV

"Why am I up this early?"

I've been asking that question myself. I woke up to Grant shaking me awake five minutes ago. He said that Liz had important news, and it didn't sound like the good kind. So, we all gathered in the living room in the girls' suite. Liz and Jonas are perched together over a single computer. I see a 3D model of the building we are supposed to breach today. We had a plan. What happened to the plan? At least I would have gotten one more hour of sleep.

Liz turns and glares at Grant, the offending questioner. "I have important news."

"Got that."

"We picked the worst day to breach."

Bex perks up from her slumped position in the armchair. "Why?"

"It appears," Jonas says, turning away from the monitor, "that today is a gathering of sorts for the Circle. Over 100 agents have already filed into the building with more streaming in by the second. That's more than the normal amount, especially for such an early hour."

I groan. No. This can't be happening. Not today. Any day but today.

"What do we do? Our plan isn't going to work now," Nick states.

"We'll have to come up with another one, and quick," I say.

"No duh, Sherlock," Macey says, stumbling into the room, looking pristine. We all stare at her for a minute before she realizes we are staring.

"What?"

Bex looks down at her crumpled shirt and jeans, tugs at her hair to find it's still a rat's nest, and then smells her breath for good measure. She then looks at Macey, who's outfit is pressed, her makeup flawless, and her hair looking like a princess's. Bex snorts and says, "Mace, most of us look like we just went through one of those tornadoes in the movie Twister. You look like you just stepped out of Seventeen."

"It's not my fault I keep proper care of myself."

Bex rolls her eyes and the conversation topic switches.

"Alright, so how do we go about this? Getting lost in the crowd could be easy, entering will not." I know this stuff like the back of my hand. A gathering like this means security beyond recall. They must be debating what to do about their missing leader. Argh. Curse my mother.

I voice this to the group and they all agree that entering with the crowd won't work. We simply don't have the time to make fake IDs or anything for ourselves. We decide to continue with the roof option, but with constant surveillance from Liz and Jonas.

"Jonas and I have hacked into the basic security system. We can't disable or enable anything, but we can see what they see. It's all we can do in the time we have and without tripping any alarms," Liz points out.

"I don't like this," Nick says. "We are extremely unprepared and we have no idea what we are looking for!"

He does have a point. We don't know what we are looking for. We have no way of knowing what will be where and who will have what. Right now, we are just trying to find out if Cammie's dad left any clues. He no doubt did.

"This is Day 4. Tomorrow, Cammie dies, at best. There's no option. We have to do this," I tell Nick.

"We could get killed."

"Story of our lives," Bex mutters.

A beeping noise fills the room. Liz looks shocked for a second before heading over to the computer. Jonas watches from behind her as she accepts the video chat from Abby. We all gather around as her face comes onto the screen. It's nighttime there, just past 11 o'clock. Abby, however, looks wide awake and exhausted at the same time. I silently wonder if we look any better. I highly doubt it.

"Hey, Abby," Liz says. "Is everything okay?"

"Lizzie, would I be video chatting you right now if everything was okay?"

I go straight into panic mode. "Is Cammie okay?"

Abby shakes her head. "Her vitals dipped dangerously low just half an hour ago. She's in critical condition. The doctor thinks she has twelve hours at most."

"Twelve hours?" Bex screeches. "We barely have a plan and you're saying we have twelve hours to find the cure?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying, Rebecca."

Bex was too flustered to notice her full name was used. She began pacing on the far wall, going deep into thought.

The rest of us turn back to Abby. "Abby," I say. "You couldn't have picked a worse time. We found out that there is a gathering at the base we are supposed to infiltrate today. Agents are already streaming in by the hundreds. There is no way we can get in and out, find the information, and get back in twelve hours! We aren't miracle workers!"

Abby's eyes tell me all I need to hear. Do the impossible, or attend Cammie's funeral.

Right now, impossible sounds a whole lot better.

Day 4

Time: 6:14 am

Place: Third Base in Athens, Greece

Third Person POV

No one is ready. No one. The base looks like a bee hive with the amount of people roaming around it. Even with their disguises, the group feels like they will be recognized any moment. They patrol the outside radius of the building, hoping for a miracle. Comms units allow them to communicate with one another, and Liz and Jonas, who are stationed in the back of a white van. They are located a decent distance from the base, for who knows who could find them if they were any closer. They fidget nervously, doing the best they can to find out any last minute information before the group infiltrates.

"Anything?" Zach asks.

"Nothing," Liz answers, knowing the question was directed at her and Jonas.

"Perimeter?"

"Guards lined everywhere," Grant answers. "Even the alleyway."

"There's no way to get to the roof," Bex adds. "Unless..."

They all come to the same conclusion at the same time.

"We jump." They all say.

The buildings surrounding the base aren't very tall. In fact, one would think they are slightly shorter than the base. The group all look up and see that, if they are lucky and they have the right skill, they should be able to jump from one roof to the next. Cameras line the perimeter of the roof, but they have blind spots, just like any other system.

"The roof is rigged with ten second intervals. The building on the north side will serve you best. If you're lucky, you can jump, one at a time, onto the roof without being seen. You'll have ten seconds each. The vent you guys want to take has lasers down it, so it won't be easy."

"We are essentially pulling an Ocean's Eleven," Nick says.

"Except they would go to jail if caught, where as we will die," Grant replies.

"We have no other option," Zach says. "Everyone make your way to the north building. Don't wait for anyone. Get up, get in, don't be seen. Let us know when you're inside."

"Got it," comes the reply.

For several minutes, the line is silent. No one speaks. They all make their way to the north building. It proves to be more of a challenge than they thought. Nick and Macey arrive at the same time and Macey is forced to move on, since only one will go at a time. Nick scrambles up the fire escape and comes onto the roof. There, he sees the cameras that he has to cross. He ducks behind a steel chimney and says, "I'm on the roof. Tell me when to go."

Silence for a few seconds, "Now."

Nick barrels across the roof. His footsteps no doubt are heard below. He reaches the other side of the roof, pushes off, and jumps. He falls for a split second before crashing into the base wall.

"Two seconds."

Nick scrambles over the wall.

"The camera caught your foot. Hold still."

Silence. Everyone waits to see if the alarm will be raised inside. After a minute, nothing happens. Nick crawls his way over to the vent and begins to unlatch it using a mini-welding device. He jumps and pulls a stun gun when he hears a loud crash behind him. Swinging around, he finds Macey brushing dust off her black jeans. She walks over to him and begins helping him.

"Now."

That's the only word heard over the unit as the group assembles, one by one, on the roof. Nick and Macey manage to get the vent open with Grant's help just as Zach lands on the roof. He walks over cautiously as they lift the lid off.

"I would have expected more security," Zach says.

"Stop! Bex, stop!"

BANG!

Grant runs over to the wall and looks over. Bex is hanging by her fingertips on the windowsill a few feet below the roof.

"Five seconds before the camera sees you."

Bex reaches into her jacket pocket and pulls out a device. She jams it into the wall, tests it, and then reels down between the buildings. By the time she's on the ground, everyone is holding their breath to see if something or someone will come out to kill them. So far, nothing has happened. Bex tugs on the device and it comes out of the wall. She stays on the ground for a second before scrambling away.

"I'm gonna stay on the ground. I think I hurt my left wrist."

"Will do."

No one watches or bothers to see how she gets past the guards. They only go back to their mission. The vent is open, but they cannot see the lasers. Grant pulls out glasses and puts them on. He looks down the chute and grimaces. He takes off the glasses and says, "Lasers, hundreds of them. There is no way we are getting past that."

Zach takes the glasses. He looks down. Lasers stream in bright red all over the chute. There is barely any room for a rock to fit, let alone a person. Sitting back, they all contemplate what to do next.

"You're gonna have to cut the lasers."

"But that will trigger the alarm!"

"Then we trigger the alarm!"

"We could always try the door," Bex says.

Macey shakes her head. "Shut tight. Best quality too. You won't get through that without some serious equipment. I wouldn't risk it."

"We're risking our lives right now!" Bex whispers.

"Well, what do we do?" Nick asks.

"We're just gonna have to suck it up and go in there. There is no way we are going undetected." Zach states.

Resigned to their fate, they all consent to turning the lasers off. Liz, nervous as a jackrabbit, begins the process of shutting them down. About ¾ of the way through, the alarm triggers. The sound is noticeable. Lights start blaring and soon the shouting starts up. It's like a beehive come to life. The group holds their breath as they wait for Liz's command that it's safe.

"Go! Go now!" she yells after 23 seconds.

The group wastes no time. Before anyone has time to comprehend, Zach as stuck a device on the top of the vent and is propelling down. He holds tight until he realizes there is a ladder on the wall. He lets go of the line and grabs onto the handles to his left. He tugs the line and it zips up to the top.

"There is a ladder on the side. Rappel down a little and then grab on. I'm going down," Zach whispers, the noise still echoing in the vent. "Be as quiet as you can."

Macey is next after Zach. She follows him with catlike grace. Zach barely pays attention as he makes his way down the chute. His breathing becomes heavier as he realizes that it's becoming smaller. When he finally reaches the end, it's almost too small to move. He crouches down and begins to crawl. It isn't long before he hears Macey following him.

"You guys have 30 seconds before the lasers turn back on. I'm being overriden," Liz says.

Everyone picks up the pace when they hear that. It becomes a race to get out of the vent as soon as possible. Zach finally finds an opening. Peering through, he finds that it's a closet. Thanking whatever divine presence is out there for his luck, he opens the lid and hops down into the darkened room.

Macey follows soon afterward. Nick hops through with little problems.

"Three seconds!"

"Grant!"

Yeah. I give you a chapter and then I do this. I'm so bad. I hope you all forgive me for being absent for ten months. If any of you can guess how crazy my life has been, I give you props. If any of you can guess why, I'll give you a dedication in the next chapter! I'm dead serious. Anyways, thanks to everyone who has kept up my readings while I was away! You guys are just awesome.

What do you think? Is twelve hours enough to make it?

Spy on,

Sorre14