AN: Hey guys, quick question, I'm looking to start some new stories and was wondering if there was a particular cliche story you wanted me to write. I'm open to all ideas and if you have one in mind, just shoot me a message or leave a comment!

Chapter 24

Bex and I quickly grabbed Macey, one of her arms over one of our shoulders then lifting her thighs onto our forearms, before crossing through the door to the stairs.

"Liz, run and get the doors for us." I asked as we stumbled to carry a dead weight Macey down the stairs.

We got her down the stairs and out the front door by the time my mom re-appeared. She was speaking swiftly and clearly into the phone, making flight plans. She started the car before helping us get Macey into the back seat. Bex climbed in on her right and I climbed in on her left, after buckling Macey in carefully we were off.

"Mom, what's going on?" I asked, she obviously knew more than she was saying.

"I promise I will explain but not until we get Macey to Gallagher. We need to make sure she's okay before anything else. Pulse?" She asked.

"Strong and steady." Bex replied.

"You knew something like this might happen, didn't you?" I challenged.

"Cammie please, not now." Mom said tersely. The car sped up.

"How long until we reach the airport?" Liz asked.

"About 25 minutes." Mom informed her as the car continued to gain speed.

"Will the plane be ready to take off?" I inquired.

"Yes. We'll be back at Gallagher in about an hour and forty five minutes. Macey will be fine." I couldn't tell if she was trying to reassure herself or us.

The car ride was tense and no one said a word. When we reached the airport Mom pulled straight up to the jet that would be taking us back to Gallagher. I don't know how she managed to commandeer it, but the jet that was taking us back to Virginia would get us there in about half the time it took us to get to Florida. I couldn't even marvel at the beautiful piece of machinery, Macey's pulse was beginning to lull.

"Mom…" I said, voice full of worry.

"Get her on the plane girls, it's going to be okay." She said calmly.

Bex and I gave each other a look before gently picking Macey up and carrying her into the plane, Liz leading the way. Liz helped us lay Macey in a seat and we let it recline slightly before strapping her in. We all anxiously took seats near her and waited for the plane to take off.

Bex's leg kept jittering. "What's taking so long?" She growled as she went to look out a window for my mom.

"Well?" I asked when she didn't say anything.

"She's on the phone with someone. Probably Solomon." Bex answered. "I wish she would hurry up."

"We all do." Liz said calmly as I nervously checked Macey's temperature.

"Does anyone have a brush?" Bex asked as she watched me.

"Why on earth would you need a brush right now?" I snapped irritably.

"There's absolutely no way Macey would let us out of the house like this, she'd be more upset if she thought we took her out in the same condition." Bex explained as she crossed and wiped the sleep from the corner of Macey's eyes.

She was right.

"I think I have one. I grabbed my laptop bag before we ran." Liz explained as she searched for a brush. "No brush, I have a comb though."

"That'll do." Bex took it and began gently combing through her hair.

I looked for something else I could do. Macey always thoroughly removed her makeup before bed but...mascara was smeared under her eyes. Odd. I gently began to wipe it away with my fingers, careful not to jab her eye.

"Cam will you braid her hair? You're better at french than I am." Bex asked.

"Yeah, hold her head up?" I replied.

She nodded and gently lifted our friends head off the seat. I quickly but efficiently french braided Macey's hair, careful not to tug it too hard because Macey has a soft head. By the time we finished my mom was aboard the plane and we were ready to take off.

"Buckle up girls." She ordered before taking a seat and putting on her own seatbelt.

Moments later we were in the air and headed for Gallagher, but I was restless. We had no idea what was going on, and there was nothing we could do to help Macey. I knew questioning my mom was pointless but I had to do something.

"Do you know what's wrong with Macey?" I asked from the other side of the plane.

"Not now Cammie." Was her short reply.

"What can you tell us?" I tried again.

"That Macey will be okay. Don't worry Cam." She replied.

I looked at Bex and signed 'Don't worry?! How the heck am I supposed to do that?'

Bex replied quickly. 'Try again!' She signed. She was just as anxious to fix Macey.

"Is anything like this going to happen to us?" I inquired in a calmer voice, adding just a touch of fear.

"It could. It's unlikely." She replied turning to look out the window.

Well I was not expecting that answer. Liz motioned both Bex and I to come and sit on either side of her. She pulled out her laptop and opened a blank document. She began to type out what she was too afraid to say.

What's going to happen to us? To Macey?

I looked at Macey, then grabbed the laptop to reply.

We're going to be fine Liz. Don't worry. My mom seems to have an idea of what's going on, even if she's not sharing. I think she anticipated this.

Bex grabbed the laptop next.

What's going on? Are we subjects to some experiment that we don't know about? Isn't that illegal.

I gave Bex a look that said 'We're spies, a good chunk of what we do is illegal.' She shrugged as if to say 'It's a valid question.' Liz grabbed the laptop from Bex.

It's entirely possible that Macey agreed to be tested for something while we were all split up yesterday. She would have done anything to keep the 'rents distracted.

I sighed. I knew it was true. It was too true. Macey was an incredible spy, she was really dedicated to everything she did. It's part of what made her such a great friend.

I didn't grab the laptop to respond. I didn't want to play guessing games anymore. I was terrified for Macey.

"Macey's gonna be so ticked we can't go shopping." Bex said, out of the blue.

I couldn't help it, I started laughing. I laughed harder than I would've thought possible, Liz's little tinkling laugh joining in with mine.

"What? It's true!" Bex exclaimed as she tried to avoid laughing with us but eventually she gave up and laughed with us.

We laughed and giggled until tears were falling from our eyes. That's when the truth of it really hit us. Macey was in a coma. She might not wake up, and while my mom might know why she was in the coma there was no guarantee that she could wake her up again. We stopped laughing but tears continued to fall. It was nine in the morning and we were emotionally drained.

"I'm scared." Bex whispered.

"So am I." Liz agreed.

"I...I'm scared too." I said crestfallen.

"We're going to be okay." Bex whispered.

"All of us." I agreed.

"What a summer…" Liz said quietly.

I let out a small laugh. "Girls summer right? That went out the window the second the guys arrived." I shook my head.

"Really though...if we could do it over again…" Bex said shaking her head.

"What would you do different?" I asked curiously.

"Well don't get me wrong, I really like Grant but...we made a pact. This summer we were going to do everything for us, we weren't going to think about the other Gallagher Girls and what they might be doing, or the Blackthorne boys, or anything that had to do with school. I think if I could do it over again I would remember that pact." Bex explained.

I flashed back to the summer so far. We started out strong, everything together then the boys came. Splitting up to surf with our guys, changing who we would sit with on the ferris wheel to have a romantic experience, rearranging who we sat by to cuddle with our chosen, and the big one. Letting the boys split us up when they were trying to get us to forgive them. Oldest trick in the book, divide and conquer.

"So would I. We were blinded." I agreed.

"I thought...I thought we were doing great. But all we were doing was being picky about when we wanted to spend time with each other. We were supposed to get on each others nerves this summer." Liz mumbled.

"We can't change the past. We'll just have to make sure we don't let it happen again." Bex said strongly.

"And it won't happen, not anymore." I agreed.

Liz let out a small laugh. "Who's going to explain this to Macey?" I smiled along with her.

"I told her about the change of plans, it's someone else's turn." Bex said with a grin.

"She'll take it best from Liz." I said grinning at my small friend.

Liz sighed. "You're probably right." We smiled at the thought of informing Macey that we no longer would spend so much time with the Blackthorne boys.

I pulled my feet up underneath me and moved closer to Liz, wrapping my arm around her. She curled up as well and rested her head on my shoulder, Bex leaned over and rested her head on Liz's arm. We stayed that way the rest of the flight.

"The limo will be waiting for us when we land." Mom announced forty five minutes later. "As soon as get to Gallagher, Dr. Fibbs will be waiting to help us get Macey to the infirmary. If everything goes according to plan she'll wake up moments later."

"Do we have to take her to the infirmary? Can't we just take her to our room?" Bex asked cautiously.

Mom thought about it then nodded her head.

"I think we can change the location." She replied gently.

I squeezed Liz's hand and she in turn squeezed Bex's. Macey was really going to be okay. We waited anxiously for the plane to land and as soon as it did, Bex and I lifted Macey from her seat and carried her to the limo. As soon as Macey was seatbelted in, we took off for Gallagher with absolutely no regard for the speed limit.

We paused briefly at the gate before continuing on right to the door. Dr. Fibbs was there with a wheel chair for Macey, we quickly transported her from the limo to the chair to her bed in our room. He had set up a bunch of science equipment as well as a heart monitor and soon Macey looked more like an experiment than a human.

We waited in silence for Dr. Fibbs to be done. He injected Macey with some kind of fluid and then dropped a different liquid down her throat. It was over faster than it should have been.

"Girls, I'm afraid you're going to need the same shot and tonic." Dr. Fibbs explained as he gestured to the other three needles on the tray.

I looked at Bex, then Liz before nodding. I went first. I sat at the foot of Macey's bed as he injected the serum into my arm then dutifully swallowed the tonic. Liz took my place and peppered Dr. Fibbs with questions the entire time. He replied occasionally but otherwise just let her ramble on. Bex nervously sat after Liz, in no way excited to have her arm jabbed. I took her hand softly as Dr. Fibbs prepped the needle then tried not to groan in pain as she squeezed my hand while the needle was in her.

Then it was over. He packed up his things, bid my mother farewell, and told us to let him know if any side effects occurred.

"I have to go and make a few calls. Let me know when Macey wakes up. I'm going to send the nurse up here to look at your ankle Cam." Mom said as she gave us each a hug and exited the room.

We nodded and as soon as she was gone, we set up a sigil. Liz sat down by Macey's feet, Bex sat by Macey's left side and I remained on her right. The nurse came up moments later and told me my ankle was sprained. She wrapped it professionally in an ace bandage and left.

We sat in silence, anxiously waiting for her to wake up.

"Shouldn't she be awake by now?" Bex asked irritably.

"He didn't exactly give us a time frame." I reminded her.

"Maybe I could go ask him to see-" Liz started but I cut her off.

"No need. Mace? Macey, can you hear us?" I asked as Macey's eyes began to flutter.

"Yeah I can hear you...what time is it?" She questioned as if she had just overslept. Her eyes opened and she looked around the room. "Where are we? What happened?"

"It's 10:30, we're at Gallagher, and we're not really sure what happened." Bex answered quickly.

"You didn't wake up Macey, you were comatose." I informed her.

"Why?" She asked.

"We have no idea. The adults know but they wouldn't tell us anything until you woke up." Liz replied. "Speaking of which we should get Mom."

"I'll go, I'm fastest with Cam's ankle down." Bex volunteered as she climbed off the bed. "Don't you go comatose on me again." She chastised Macey as she left.

"I'll do my best." Macey replied with a small smile.

The door closed quietly after Bex and Macey took a chance to really look around the room.

"I missed this place. Where are the guys?" Macey asked as she noticed the lack of testosterone.

"Back at the beach place as far as we know. They were on a run when we took off." I replied.

"Did they call us?" She asked.

"We have no idea, we left our phones back the beach house too." Liz answered softly. "Mace...while you were out, we talked." Liz continued to explain what we decided on the plane. When she finished we both watched Macey anxiously.

Her first reaction was incredulousness, then disbelief, then anger, then meekness, then she finally settled on acceptance.

"I can agree to that. It sounds good." She said finally. Seconds later the door opened, and Bex and Mom appeared.

"Macey, honey how are you?" She asked, more the concerned mother than the concerned spy headmistress. Bex returned to her place at Macey's side.

"I'm good. I just want to know what happened." Macey replied, sitting up more.

Mom sighed but then looked at the four of us. She debated silently how much she was going to tell us and we waited patiently. Then, she began.

"You girls were a part of one of Dr. Fibbs new experimental drug tests. It was a selective memory erasing formula and this was one of the earlier rounds of human testing. You all agreed to it, days before summer break began, I have proof if you need it. We started by erasing your memory of the day you agree, you were supposed to take the antidote and remember the entire thing but the antidote didn't work and none of you remember it. This second round of testing is to see whether or not it works with a longer period of time, a month." Bex cut her off.

"Wait a second, you're saying we're not going to remember this whole month of summer?" Bex asked, not even a suggestion that we weren't going to go along with it.

"Not necessarily, the antidote was remade and it's entirely possible that you will remember all that's happened so far when you take it." Mom replied.

"When do we take the memory erasing formula?" I asked.

"At the end of the month, a week from now." Mom replied.

"What happens if we don't remember?" Liz questioned.

"Then we feed you information to explain the month you don't remember, and you go on with your summer. It's part of the reason I've been taking so many pictures, to show you if the antidote doesn't work." Mom explained.

"Are there any serious side effects?" Bex wondered.

"Not that we've observed until today. We're still not sure what made Macey react poorly but Dr. Fibbs took blood samples so we should be able to figure it out soon. You girls will be fine." Mom soothed us.

"We have to stay here at Gallagher for the rest of the trial, don't we?" I voiced my realization.

"I'm afraid so. On the bright side the guys are on their way here with Solomon and you are free to go to Roseville as you please, as long as you let us know first." Mom tried her best to put a cheery spin on things.

"When will Macey be free to get out of bed?" Liz asked politely.

"If she feels up to it, she can right now. I'm sure you girls are hungry and eager to get out of your pajamas." Mom gave us a wink and moved to the door. "Just try not to over do it."

The door shut behind her and Macey quickly removed herself from under the cover and we all pushed ourselves up onto our knees, to plan what to do next.

"Is it bad that I forgot that we weren't wearing actual clothing?" Bex asked with a smile.

"Absolutely not." I replied. "I forgot too."

"I can't believe you three wore your pajamas out of the house." Bex, Liz, and I laughed.

"I'm glad you're awake Macey." Liz said with a smile.

She grinned back. "Me too. Oh crap…" She hit a horrible realization.

"What's wrong?" I asked, brow furrowed.

"We completely forgot. I cleaned out my closet meaning I have nothing to wear and we dumped everything you guys didn't pack so we have absolutely nothing to wear. I hope you guys are comfortable." Macey groaned.

We were all in pajama shorts and oversized tank tops to help fight the florida heat, they were incredibly comfortable but it's not exactly something you would wear if you're going shopping.

"Well I don't know about you guys but I'm extremely comfortable." I said as I grinned at Liz. Looks like we weren't barbie dolls today.

"I concur." Liz said smiling madly.

"I wonder if I could fight in these. Anyone want to spar?" Bex asked cracking her knuckles. "I learned a few new tricks yesterday."

"You also sprained your wrist." Macey reminded her.

"HA! Now I'm not the only one who's injured!" I gloated.

"I can still spar!" Bex argued.

"Then so can I." I pointed out.

"You wanna try and take me on, Morgan?" Bex challenged.

"Heck yes. As soon as we take you to the nurse to get your wrist wrapped. We wouldn't want to make it worse now would we?" I said pulling the same line she used on me.

"Can I watch? I'm trying to create this new program…" Liz said trailing off.

"Only if they let me fight with them." Macey said before Bex or I could respond.

"I can totally take on you and Cam at once." Bex said cockily.

"Oh yeah right, in your dreams Baxter." I exclaimed jumping off the bed. "You talk the talk but can you walk the walk?" I stumbled slightly as I put pressure on my ankle.

"Better than you can." She teased with a grin. "Let's go get food."

We made our way out of our room and down the grand staircase to the dining room. We took the door in the back corner and quickly picked the lock to get into the kitchen to find the chef waiting for us.

"Girls! I'm glad to see you're all on your feet. If tenuously." He said with a wink at me.

"It's great to see you too chef. Do you perchance have anything we could eat before we head to the P&E barn?" Bex replied politely.

"Absolutely! I'm trying out a new recipe for breakfast bars, would you like to be my test subjects?" He asked holding out a tray.

"We would love to!" Liz exclaimed jumping forward to try one, the rest of us following suit.

We all let out moans of pleasure, they were incredible. They tasted chocolatey with a hint of peanut butter but I knew without a doubt they would give us hours of energy and were fully healthy for us.

"I'm glad you like them. How about some pancakes to go along with them?" Chef asked with a smile.

"That would be wonderful." Macey got out before bites.

He gestured to the stools at the island and we all stuffed our faces with breakfast bars and pancakes before bidding him farewell and leaving to go and spar.

"Um Bex, where are you going?" I asked as she went towards the doors leading outside.

"Um, to the P&E barn, where are you going?" She questioned.

"Why to the infirmary of course, you still need to let the nurse look at your wrist." I said obviously.

"Why I had almost forgotten, come on Bex. We wouldn't want your injury to get worse." Macey said grabbing Bex's arm and leading her towards the infirmary.

"Well hello girls, what can I do for you?" Nurse Bonnie asked as we entered the infirmary.

"Bex hurt her wrist, would you mind looking at it for her?" I asked kindly.

"Of course." She replied with a smile as she stepped forward to examine it.

"I really don't think anything's wrong with-OW!" Bex exclaimed as the nurse twisted it.

"Oh dear. I'm afraid your wrist is sprained. I'm going to have to wrap it to prevent further injury." Nurse Bonnie said pulling an ace bandage from the drawer on her left. She quickly immobilized the wrist before sending us on our way with a smile.

"Now we're ready to spar." I said grinning as we made our way to the P&E barn.

"You're going to pay for that Morgan." Bex growled.

"I look forward to it." I said with a smile as Macey and I led her out onto the mats.

"Hang on a sec guys, I need to set up my laptop." Liz ordered from the benches.

We stretched while we waited and as soon as Liz gave us the okay, we launched into action. Macey and I took down Bex quickly, her calling for a rematch before she was even up off the mat. We went like this for the next hours, taking turns fighting each other or ganging up on each other, Liz even joined in. Each round ended with laughter and smiles. It felt good to spend time together just messing around, with the boys nowhere near our mind for the first time that summer. It couldn't last forever, unfortunately. As we neared the three hour mark we heard frantic calls, each by the same name.

"GALLAGHER GIRL!" Four boys were yelling anxiously, looking for us.

When we first heard their calls, the air shifted. Bex groaned, Macey and I exhaled sharply while Liz just let out a disappointed sigh.

"We're horrible girlfriends." Macey pointed out as none of us called out to them.

"As long as we're not horrible friends, I'm strangely okay with that." Bex commented.

"GALLAGHER GIRL!" The call came once more. I looked at the other and sighed before whistling to let them know where we were.

Liz crossed to the bench and sat once more while Bex, Macey, and I chose to stay standing.

"There you are!" Grant yelled as he entered the gym at full speed with the others hot on his tail.

"Here we are." I said lamely before Zach barrelled into me.

"You guys scared the living crap out of us." He whispered in my ear as he clutched me to him. I wrapped my arms around him comfortingly.

"It's okay, we're okay." I said pulling my head away from his shoulder to kiss him. My stomach filled with butterflies as his lips touched mine. I realized I missed him, the few hours we were apart.

"Don't do that to us." He said resting his forehead against mine.

"Sorry." I said softly, smiling. His lips jerked slightly in a smile.

"Oh you're sorry are you?" He started as his hands crept from my hips to my waist. "I'll show you sorry."

He began tickling my sides wildly and when I tried to get away he simply wrapped his arms around my waist and picked me up and tickled my neck with his nose. He was laughing lightly in my ear as I tried viciously to get him to stop.

"Okay, okay, you've made your point, I'm sorry, I'm really sorry!" I got out between laughs.

"See, I'm not sure if I believe you yet." He teased as he continued to tickle me.

"Bex, help!" I called as tears began to fall from my eyes.

"Sorry Cam, it looks like you've got yourself in quite the pickle." Bex said from where she stood with Grant. I took a look around the room the best I could and saw Macey had her lips locked with Preston and Liz was curled around her laptop with Jonas curled around her.

"Grant, help!" I tried calling for backup.

"Why me?" Grant asked while wrapping his arm around Bex.

"Because you're the only one left bro." Zach said with a grin.

"No, no, because you're, my brother." I managed to get out.

"Oh right! Almost forgot. But wait, is this a brotherly kind of thing to do or is it just more irritating?" He questioned.

I managed to wrap my hands around Zach's mouth before he could reply.

"Brotherly." I gasped as Zach licked my hand.

"Well okay then." Grant decided as he moved from Bex's side and launched himself at Zach's legs.

I rolled free from Zach's grasp and tried to catch my breath as they wrestled goodnaturedly a few feet from me.

"Whew." I let out and Bex came to help me to my feet.

"Thanks Grant." I said as I regained my balance.

He flipped Zach over onto the mat and climbed to his feet.

"No problem." He grinned and ruffled my hair.

"So what have you girls been up today?" Preston asked as he and Macey joined us once more.

"Well we've spent the past few hours sparring-" Bex managed to get out before being cut off.

"What? Are you all insane? Cam, you have a sprained ankle." Zach said first.

"And don't think I didn't notice your wrist bandage, Bex." Grant said holding up Bex's injured wrist.

"Macey, you were literally in a coma this morning, what were you three thinking?" Preston finished.

"We were thinking that we were bored and restless." Macey folded her arms and popped out a hip.

"Besides, we were careful." Bex agreed taking up the same defensive posture.

"We've been taking care of each other for quite some time now, we know our limits. All of our limits." I added, following Bex and Macey's example.

Each of the boys rubbed their hands over their faces. I swear it's like they all share a brain.

"That's not the point." Grant tried.

He turned so he was facing just Bex. Preston grabbed Macey's hands and forced her to look into his eyes. Zach's hand came up and caressed my cheek, pulling my face towards his. It was the same tactic as before, divide and concur. Luckily for us, Lizzie noticed.

"Oh no you don't!" Liz exclaimed jumping up and pulling me away from Zach and towards Bex. "Not again!"

"Liz, what are you talking about?" Jonas asked, walking slowly toward her.

"Plan your next move carefully Jonas." Bex warned as we stepped in front of Liz. Macey had broken away from Preston and came up behind us.

"What on earth is going on?" Preston asked, joining his friends in their slow moving pursuit.

"Just, stay back." I warned as we slowly crept backward.

"Gallagher Girl, what's wrong?" Zach asked, trying to catch my eye.

"Look, we've been meaning to talk to you four." Macey began as I slowly moved us toward where our exit awaited. To the guys, it seemed as if they were cornering us. "This summer is meant to be about the four of us, friendship, sisterhood, irritating the crap out of each other. It was working fine until you guys came along."

"So you're breaking up with us?" Preston questioned.

"No, absolutely not, we're just telling you now that you're going to be second string. We're going to put each other first and if you have a problem with that you should get out now." Macey continued.

"We understand if you put us second string too, we expect it even and we're okay with it, but we figure you deserve to know that there are going to be some changes if you decide you want to stay. Starting with this thing where you get us all mad together then pull us apart to make us forgive you." Bex picked up where Macey left off.

"It's totally not cool." Liz added. The boys looked at each other.

"I didn't even know we were doing that." Jonas said apologetically.

"Well, now you know and you know that we know. We'll be watching out for it." Macey said quickly. We were almost to freedom.

"Is there anything else we should know?" Zach questioned, still trying to catch my eye. I made sure to look everywhere but at him.

"Yeah, that adorable overprotective thing you've got going on? It's got to stop. It makes us feel like we're four year olds being scolded by our parents so if you're going to do it, do it more subtly and tactfully." Macey added as we reached the back wall. I inconspicuously switched places with Macey so I could reach the switch to let us into the passage. We would have to get in fast.

"Okay, we can do that now…" Preston said as the continued their advance.

"Cam…" Bex said slowly and I hit the switch.

The four of us fell into the passage and it swung shut locking the boys out. I knew it wouldn't take Zach long to find the switch so I quickly jumped up and shut the lock.

"Let's go." I said helping my friends to their feet as our boyfriends pounded on the wall.

I grabbed the flashlight I hid nearby and quickly led my friends back towards the school.

"Ugh. Cam, you've seriously got to sweep some of these out." Bex commented as we hurried through the hidden halls.

"If I had the time, I still wouldn't." I replied.

"So where are we going?" Liz questioned.

"The kitchen, I want lunch." I answered as I took the next right.

"Ew! Something just ran across my foot!" Macey yelled.

"You imagined it, trust me there's nothing down here that's dangerous." I consoled her as I opened a secret passageway, within the secret passageway.

"Um, Cam?" Bex said uncertainly.

"Yeah?" I asked, turning to look at her.

"Where are we going?" She wondered.

"I told you, to the kitchen."

"Yeah, I got that but why are we go through this specific passageway?"

"Because it's the fastest way to the kitchen." I said as if it were obvious. It should've been.

"Cam, it's tiny!" Macey pointed out. I just rolled my eyes.

"Don't be such a baby, it's not that bad." I said as I sunk to my knees and wormed my way into the hole.

"For the record, I'm only following you because you have the light. And you're the only one that knows how to get out of here." Liz mentioned as she crawled behind me.

I heard an aggravated scream and a sigh and I knew Bex and Macey were following as well. A yard into the passage, it opened up and became a normal sized hallway again.

"Oh thank the stars." Bex exclaimed as I helped her to her feet.

"You three are such babies." I commented as we made walked the last few yards to the kitchen.

"Wow...that was actually a lot faster than I expected." Macey said surprised as we exited the passageway and entered the pantry.

"No wonder some of the girls think you have super speed." Bex agreed as I opened the door and we were assaulted by wonderful smells.

"I can't believe you guys doubted me. I'm hurt." I said holding my hand to my heart.

"Maybe we should start taking the passageways everywhere." Liz joked.

"You know as much fun as that sounds, I think I'll pass." Macey commented as she pulled a cobweb off my shirt.

"Welcome back girls! How was your workout?" Chef asked as he pulled something delicious smelling out of the oven.

"Hello Chef. It was great thanks for asking." I replied politely.

"Until the guys ruined it." Bex added.

Chef just laughed. "Oh young love."

"Hey Chef, if they come in here looking for us do you think we could hide in the pantry while you send them away?" Macey asked rubbing her temples. We all took a set at the island.

He chuckled again. "Sure girls, I don't mind. But only if you try one of my calzones. Another new recipe."

"We would absolutely love to." Liz said as he placed one onto a plate for each of us.

We sat in the kitchen for a while, chatting with Chef and each other before eventually deciding to go and shower.

"We'll see you this evening Chef, thank you for having us." Liz said politely as we went to leave.

"Any time girls, it's a pleasure to have you." Chef replied.

We bid him our farewells as we crossed through the dining hall and into the main foyer. Liz began to creep back up to our room but I simply walked past her and headed for the stairs. When they all gave me a look I just shrugged.

"I'm tired of creeping around, my ankle hurts." I told them simply. They shrugged at one another before following my example.

Now just because we were creeping doesn't mean we weren't quiet. Our steps fell silently on the wooden floor and we avoided talking to make sure we could here the boys coming. When we reached our room without hearing a sounds, we all let out a sigh of relief.

"Oh bollocks." Bex exclaimed wildly.

"What?!" We replied in unison.

"We forgot that we don't have anything to change into." Bex reminded us, holding up her shirt as proof.

We all groaned.

"You have got to be kidding me…" I mumbled as I ran my hands over my face. "Okay, I'll go talk to mom and see what she has to say."

"Not by your bloody self you're not. I'm coming with you." Bex announced, crossing the room to stand at my side.

"Here, take these. Keep them on." Liz said tossing us coms that we knew were already connected to her laptop

"You girls keep a tight guard here, we'll be back." I said as I opened the door.

"Aye aye captain." Liz said with a laugh.

"You guys be careful out there." Macey ordered in return.

Bex and I saluted and shouted, "Sir yes sir!" in response. Liz giggled and Macey sighed as we closed the door behind us.

"So are there any passageways that will take us close to your mom's office?" Bex asked excitedly.

"Oh yeah, tons." I smiled and led her down the hall a few yards before pulling open a picture frame and revealing one of my favorite passageways.

"This is so cool." Bex exclaimed before she crossed through the hole in the wall into the passageway.

"Believe me, I know." I replied as I shut the frame behind us and picked up a flashlight.

"Where does it go?" Bex asked.

"It lets out right into the hall of history down the hall from my mom's office. There are stairs built into the foundation and it gets a little tight but it's not as bad as the last one." I explained as I led the way to the stairs.

Seconds later we left the passage and entered the hall. It let us out right next to the case holding Gillian Gallagher's sword. We entered the hallway proper and turned to find Grant, Zach, Preston, and Jonas waiting for us. Bex and I exchanged a silent look and turned to crawl back into the passage but Zach saw us.

"Oh no you don't!" He yelled as he and Grant ran over and threw us over their shoulders.

"We knew you'd come to talk to mom eventually." Grant explained as he and Zach carried us towards Mom's office.

"So, where are Macey and Liz?" Jonas questioned as he followed behind Zach.

"Like I'd tell you." I replied shortly.

"Come on Cam, we all know you're going to tell us eventually." Preston put in.

"No actually, I'm not." I said with a snort.

"Well where aren't they?" Jonas tried again.

"I'm really not going to tell you Jonas." I reached out and patted his head. "Good luck."

"Bex, be reasonable. Where are Macey and Liz?" Preston tried.

"Say another word Winters, and you'll lose an arm." Bex threatened. Preston paled so much, I had to laugh.

"Hey maybe you guys could give us a hand back here." Jonas asked his friends as Grant knocked on Mom's door.

"Sounds like you have it under control." Zach teased and Mom called for us to enter.

We were carried into the room and set down on the couch, right next to each other. Idiots. I tucked my feet up underneath me, my injured ankle close to Bex.

"So I see you found some of the girls." Mom said with a small smile as she watched Bex and I move closer together.

"Yeah we found half and we're trying to get them to tell us where their friends are." Zach replied as Jonas and Preston took a seat on the couch opposite Bex and I.

"So, Bexy, where are Macey and Liz." Grant said sweetly.

I could feel Bex's blood boil so I quickly pinched her to keep her quiet without the guys noticing. Luckily Bex caught the message and held silent.

Zach and Grant made eye contact and Zach stepped forward to try.

"Cam, would you pretty please tell us where your best friends in the world are?" He said pleadingly, catching and holding eye contact. I fought the urge to snort.

"Come on girls, our friends just want to see their girlfriends." Grant plead.

We held our silence.

"Will you tell us why you won't tell us where they are?" Zach tried to get any kind of information.

Still our silence held. Macey and Liz were undoubtedly already headed for an unknown location to stay safe.

Zach sighed. "I'm sorry Cammie, you leave me no choice. I'm afraid we're going to have to do this the hard way." He leaned forward dramatically and pressed his lips to mine.

It was intoxicating the way he kissed me, it made me dizzy and lightheaded. Most of the time. No one knew better the effect Zach's kisses had on me, and no one knew better how to keep those kisses from effecting me than Bex so when Zach pressed our lips together all I could focus on was Bex's wrist putting uncomfortable pressure on my ankle.

Zach pulled away and was disappointed to see me hold strong.

"Nice try dude, but you just don't have the correct skill." Grant said as he moved forward to try Bex. I couldn't squeeze her wrist like she could my ankle but I knew she needed some kind of distraction so I did the only thing I could, I dug my toenail into her thigh. The pressure on my ankle was excruciating, it took almost all I have to avoid crying but I kept pushing into her thigh to keep her strong.

Grant pulled away with a small smile on her face, confused when Bex's expression remained neutral.

"Guys, let's just go wait outside again. Mace and Liz are sure to come looking for them." Preston suggested when it looked like Grant was going to explode.

"Mrs. Morgan will you watch them?" Zach asked and gestured to Bex and I.

"Of course." Mom replied as Zach hauled Grant out of the room, Preston and Jonas following behind.

The door shut behind them and Bex and I climbed to our feet. We crossed to the air vent and I pulled up a chair to remove the bolts that held the grate in place.

"You sure this thing can support both our weight?" Bex asked as she held the chair steady.

"Absolutely." I replied certainly. "Lizzie says it can hold around 500 pounds of weight at the weakest points. Right Bookworm?" I asked.

"Right-o Chameleon." Liz replied through the coms.

"Are you going to stop us?" Bex asked with a questioning glance at Mom.

"I said I would watch you, and I am." She replied with a grin.

"You wouldn't happen to have something for us to change into would you?" I asked hopefully.

"Sorry Kiddo. Mr. Solomon does though, he's down in the subs." She replied.

"Thanks, we'll see you later." I said waving as I entered the air vent.

"You guys catch that?" I asked.

"Roger that Chameleon. We'll meet you and Duchess down by the entrance." Macey replied.

"Thanks Peacock." I responded.

Bex climbed up after me and began to put the grate on after us.

"You girls don't worry about that, I'll clean up after you." Mom said waving her away.

"You sure?" Bex asked.

"Absolutely. You girls go have your shopping trip, I'm sure Solomon would love to drive you to the mall if you ask politely." She replied as she screwed the vent on behind us.

"Thanks Mom!" Bex and I both replied before setting off quietly down the vents.

I led us through the vents towards the chemistry lab because they were closest to the ground, Bex following silently behind. We reached the lab without incident and quickly forced our way out of the vent, covering our tracks as we left the lab and began to tread carefully towards the sub levels.

We met up with Macey and Liz in front of the mirror that served as an elevator to the sub levels. Bex, Macey, and I quickly had a silent debate about who was going to scan their hand and get Solomon, and which two were going to stay with Liz. It was decided that Macey would go and get Solomon while Bex and I stayed to guard Liz. Macey entered the elevator and we waited anxiously for her to return.

Faster than I would I have thought possible Macey returned with Solomon in tow.

"Hello Ladies." He said with a grin.

"Hello Mr. Solomon." I replied politely.

"I'm sure you four would like to change quickly before going out for your extravagant shopping trip?" He questioned unnecessarily. He knew that's exactly what we would like.

"Yes sir." Liz answered quietly under his steady gaze.

"Well, we have bags packed for each of you that I believe are still in the van. Let's go and retrieve them, then I will give you girls five minutes to get changed. Does that sounds reasonable?" He somehow managed to ask the question without making it sound like a question. We all knew that he meant he was waiting for five minutes before leaving us.

We all nodded our agreement before swiftly following Solomon out to the car. We pulled open the back of the van and after a brief discussion we decided to just change in the back of the van to save time (and to avoid being kidnapped by the boys).

"So am I allowed to ask why you're avoiding your boyfriends?" Solomon asked from outside the van. He stood by the passenger window which was cracked just enough for us to hear him. I knew he would be observing everything around us while still respecting our privacy.

"We're not avoiding them, per say…" Macey began as she tried to pull on a pair of skinny jeans.

"We're just trying to get in some girl time without them distracting us." Bex added.

"Ah. I see." Solomon replied shortly.

"Why do you ask?" I wondered, pulling off my pajama shirt and grabbing the crop top from my bag.

"Just trying to get a feel for the situation." He responded. It was a planned response.

"Uh huh." I said as I climbed over to the passenger seat, fully dressed. "Why are you really asking?"

He turned slightly towards me. He hesitated before answering but no one moved to changed the subject.

"I decided it was past time I tried to get to know you girls." He replied, honestly this time.

"Aww Mr. S, you care." Bex exclaimed coming to look at him over my shoulder.

He snorted. "Of course I care. You're my students."

"Oh come on Joe, just admit it you like us." I teased. He stiffened slightly at my casual use of his name but I made no move to revoke it.

"Well I like all my students…" He tried to explain.

"Give it up Joe, we know we're your favorites." Macey added in.

"I ethically can't have favorites-" We cut him off with denials.

"Forget ethics, it's not like our professors are state certified." Liz pointed out as she joined us in our teasing.

He turned to look at us, each of us grinned wildly. A small smile found it's way to his face seemingly without permission.

"Alright…" He finally admitted. "Let's go." We cheered more at his admission than the fact that we were going shopping.

We started for the mall, Macey and Liz going on about changes that we would have to make to the schedule based on the stores the Roseville mall had while Bex and I tried to convince Mr. Solomon to teach us some new moves.

"Oh come on Solomon, just a couple illegal moves. We won't use them on anyone but each other." Bex argued.

"You know it's a good idea. Like you say, an operative needs every advantage they can get." I put in.

"Alright, alright, I think about it!" He exclaimed.

Bex and I exchanged high fives.

"Wait, I'll make a deal with you." Solomon said waving off our celebration.

"Oh boy...are we going to like this deal?" I asked concerned.

"Possibly. If you girls will give me a hand with a project I've been working on, I will teach you illegal moves." He bargained.

"Deal. What's the project?" Bex asked.

"You'll see." He said mysteriously.

"Is it bad that I'm more excited than nervous?" I asked Bex.

"Absolutely not, I think you'll enjoy this Cammie." Solomon answered before Bex could.

"Hey Joe, how long are we going to stay at the mall?" Macey asked from the back seat.

"A few hours. I don't want Cammie on her ankle too long and Bex needs to rest her wrist as well." He commented.

"What do you think Lizzie, what are our odds of getting it done today?" Macey asked turning to Liz.

Liz got a look of concentration on her face as she began working the odds out in her mind, occasionally writing at part of the problem in the air before closing her eyes again. In less than thirty seconds Liz had her answer.

"Our odds are surprisingly good." She told Macey, knowing she didn't want exact numbers.

"You guys up for it?" Macey asked turning to me and Bex.

"Absolutely." I answered.

"Do we have a choice?" Bex asked.

"No." Macey, Liz, Solomon, and I answered in unison. We burst into laughter as Solomon pulled into the parking lot.

"I'll be around town picking up a few things. You can get into the van if you need too. I'll be back at 6:00 to drive you home." Solomon explained as he parked the van.

"Cool. Do you have a way to contact you if there's an emergency?" Macey asked.

"I have my phone." He informed us.

"We think the boys have ours." Bex reminded him.

"Right." He said running a hand through his hair.

"Here, take this. We've all got one too so you can contact us this way. We'll keep ours muted unless we need you." Liz said handing him our spare com.

He took it gently from her. He looked down at the device in his hand before smiling and slipping it into his ear. We all exited the car and Joe made sure we had everything we needed before locking it behind us.

"We'll see you later Joe." I called as we went our separate ways.

He waved over his shoulder at us, and the girls and I turned to face the biggest shopping center for miles. The Roseville Mall.