Disclaimer: I don't own the Gallagher Girl Series. All rights reserved, inc. copyright, goes to Ally Carter and Disney Hyperion, I also don't own any pictures I may/may not use (I get them off of Google Images). No copyright infringement intended, all rights reserved to said creators. No money is being made.

Warnings: language, violence, mentions of character death, AU

Notes: Thanks so much for the feedback, the favorites, and the follows! I appreciate it! Thank you miaadventure, , mhernandez5, and Guest for your review, you'll find your response at the end of the chapter. Ugh, school has officially started. It makes matters worse since I moved to a completely new town and a new school. I'm just glad I'm not the only new transfer student. I also live in a town where everyone knows everyone. I'm used to the city life so let's see how this all turns out. Hope you enjoy this chapter! Sorry for taking so long to upload.

—dreams

Chapter Five

Roseville

Cammie

Three days had passed since I was "officially" enrolled in Gallagher for my own safety. Everyone there underestimated my strength, my will to live, everything about me they doubted. When Grant said we sparred when we were younger, and that I always won every time, they doubted me, staring at my tiny stature and fragile limbs. When Grant said I once hacked into a government base when I was fourteen, they doubted me. Of course, I did all of those things during my own captivity, and Grant taught me his secrets in spite of his supposed alliance to the Circle of Cavan.

Catherine and Dr. Steve trained me but also made sure I was broken, beaten into submission, made sure that I would only obey their word and no one else's. As long as they didn't play their manipulative, hypnotic, brainwashing melody I was as stubborn as a mule.

But, most of all, they wanted to test my limit. They wanted to see how far the daughter of two legendary spies would, and could, go.

I stared at Mr. Solomon, Joe Solomon. I knew his work, I knew him well. He was a spy from the Circle of Cavan, one who secretly worked with and for the CIA. He and my father spent their years trying to find me, pouring their very being into the mysteries that revolved around Cammie Morgan's kidnapping and alleged death.

But now everyone knew that Cameron Morgan was alive, albeit tortured, and with the Circle of Cavan.

Gallagher Academy's Gossip Girl, Tina Walters, kept telling everyone of the news she heard from her parents. There were whispers of infiltrating Circle warehouses, places they suspect Cammie is hiding.

They don't know that Cameron Morgan is in the very halls of one of the safest places on earth. They don't know that Penelope Smith is a façade, that she is a cushion, a safe haven of a person for the one girl they're risking everything to find.

I am Cameron Morgan but I am also Penelope Smith.

I find it, somehow, to be poetic justice.

Once when I was first enrolled into this Academy, back when everything in my life was perfectly normal (as normal as a teenage spy could be), I spent every second of my free time exploring the Academy walls. I made sure there was no passageway unmarked, unseen from my eyes. I knew this place, probably, better than anyone. Other than Gilly Gallagher, of course.

Solomon was talking about the importance of teamwork. In the beginning of class, a girl who's name I can't remember raised her hand once she saw me sitting near the front, and asked if it was wise for someone as fragile as me to be involved in a class such as CoveOps.

I nearly broke into laughter. Honestly, these girls were underestimated by the male spies of the world simply because they were of the female species and yet, here they were. Underestimating me, another female.

Solomon's lips twitch. He probably thought the irony of the question and insinuation was as funny as I thought it was.

"Miss Smith, do you think you can explain why it's so important for teamwork in a Covert Operation?" inquires Mr. Solomon.

I feel everyone's eyes on me, including the Blackthorne boys who had accompanied the Gallagher Girls in this class. Grant gives me a squeeze on my hand for comfort.

"Well, instead of there being one person on the mission, there could be two therefore things could go quicker, smoother. If one of the members finds themselves in a sticky situation, the other could either get help or get them out of the situation with their wit and skills…" I respond with my hands.

There was a twinkle in his eyes. "Good answer, Miss Smith," he says. He turns his attention back to the class but I block him out until he says, "We are going on a fieldtrip, class. Leave your bags."

Solomon walks out of the class, expecting everyone else to follow. We do and Grant makes sure that he doesn't let go of my hand. In the van we were using to drive to the neighboring town, Roseville, was large enough to fit everyone in the sophomore class which surprised me a bit.

Mr. Solomon was calling out pairs. I heard some groans, some squeals, saw a couple nods. Then, he says, "Smith, McHenry."

I look up, meeting Macey's blue eyes. She gives me a wide smile, one that I return although a bit smaller and less brighter than hers.

"Kanavos, Baxter,"

I look a Grant, giving him a secretive smirk. He rolls his eyes at me. Bex, who was sitting across from me, nods to Solomon. I hear other girls sigh in disappointment. I wrinkle my nose as the thought of Grant's supposed "sexiness" flashes in my head again.

Ugh.

I so don't need those images.

It's like seeing your parents naked doing foreplay before they, as some kids say, "went at it like bunnies" .

I shudder horribly at the images that will forever be burned in my mind but hide it well. Only the sharpest eyes in the van notice my reaction. I knew that Solomon, Bex, Macey, and Grant saw it, but I wasn't surprised to see that Zachary Goode had taken note of it as well.

"Let's go then," Mr. Solomon said before he shut the van door closed and walked to the drivers' seat. After a few seconds, we were off and out of the gates of Gallagher Academy. I lean my head on Grant's shoulder and he wraps and arm around my shoulder to pull me closer.

"Pass these around," a girl with brown hair and eyes says, holding an opened box of Bluetooth looking devices. She sees my questioning look and explains, "They're comms units, we use it to communicate. It's like a Bluetooth."

I place it in my ear at the same time as Grant does, and tap it. Static whispers in my ear. "Wait, we don't know Penelope's codename," someone else said.

"Call her the Chameleon," Grant says instantly. I, unnoticeably, jab him with my elbow, covering it up as if I'm simply moving closer. Others nod as they place their units in their ear. I hear the static disappear and multiple voices fill my eardrums.

"Alright, you lot," Solomon says through his own comms unit, "Here's the instructions. Today, you and your partner are going to notice things. I'll be testing you randomly. There will be clues for you until you reach the endpoint, which is one of the buildings in the square. I won't tell you where it is but it has something to do camouflage."

Others chime in with agreement, others nod like Grant and I.

After a short, five minute drive, Solomon stops the van, parking it. The van door opens to reveal Solomon and my Aunt Abby standing there.

"Let's move," Solomon says before we all pile out. People on the streets stare at us all, at the Gallagher emblem that was on the van like a beaming lighthouse light. I suppose Gallagher Academy doesn't get out as much as I thought. Everyone splits into their pairs as if they were slipping into their favorite pair of shoes. No one looks disgruntled with their team mate.

Macey loops her arm with mine. "C'mon, Penny." She says as we start down the sidewalk. I immediately take count of how many children are crowding around an advertisement in the Roseville Toy Shoppe, I take note of how many coffee cups are on the outside tables at Candy's Coffee House, and the tiny sign underneath it that pronounces, free wifi inside! Everyone's welcome!

I make sure to see the windows, see the people, see who looked like ragamuffins, who looked important and powerful and well-known in the community.

Macey was babbling in my ear as we walked, twirling her hair, acting like how Macey McHenry would act if she wasn't a Gallagher Girl and just one of the most beautiful girls in the world, or just in America.

"…and I was, like, don't touch my hairbrush, Lizzie, I might get lice or something." Macey babbles.

"Peacock, what's on Baker Avenue? That store there?" asks Aunt Abby through comms.

"The bookstore is called Books A Million, there's around fifty people roaming about inside, about twenty loitering in front of it. Someone's speaking about the newest best seller, I'm assuming it's the Twilight Saga. There's only four windows, probably two in the back as well."

"Good, good."

Macey and I pass Tina Walters and a girl named Ava, who are chatting excitedly about the newest fashion in Italy. Macey rolls her eyes at them.

My mind goes back to the assignment while my eyes continue to roam, picking up pieces and pulling images apart.

"…something to do with camouflage…"

As we continue to walk down the sidewalk, sometimes we drift in and out of stores, acting like tourists. People stare at Macey and I, but mostly it was Macey and her noticeable beauty. Although, people point at my bright red hair and emerald eyes. Another minute or so of walking, my eyes pinpoint the store we were supposed to go in. I saw everyone in Gallagher, and even Blackthorne, pass by the store without a single glance or thought.

The small shop was called Blending. If I didn't know what it was, the blending machines in the windows would've caused me to ignore it but I knew what was inside of the shop. My father took me in there many times when I was younger. He loved debating with the shop owner.

"Let's go in this one," I tell Macey. She knows what I say from years of watching translators standing next to her father on the political field whenever it was necessary, signing for anyone who was deaf or hard of hearing in the crowd or watching through the television.

"You sure?" Macey murmurs, looking at the store apprehensively, but I nod insistently. We cross the threshold of Blending and instead of seeing blenders and other blending appliances one would use in the kitchen, there are odds-and-ends, knickknacks, and seven racks of camouflage clothes or those somewhat similar. Army themed hats, knives, plastic toy guns hung from the wall, each having a price near it.

There was a sign hanging above the cashier, a wide, blaringly obvious one. The sign said, in obnoxiously loud colors, SALE TODAY. EVERYTHING HALF OFF. HAVE FUN AT BLENDING.

Macey's jaw drops. "Huh…I bet everyone else just passed this store, thinking nothing of it."

"I know they all did. I watched them," I tell her. She smirks.

"Hello girls," a blonde girl with honey brown eyes pops in front of us. She's wearing a cute camouflage skirt, button-down blouse, flats, and a camouflage bowtie headpiece. There was a black name tag on her breast pocket of the blouse and written in red script, was her name.

Miscela, the tag read.

It's ironic, really.

Her name means blend, mixture, brew, concoction in Italian.

Her name is the name of the store.

"Hi there, I'm Miscela." She grins. "Do you need any help?"

"We'll be looking," Macey responds. "But we'll call you if we need help."

"Great!" Miscela says, looking relieved slightly. "I'll be near the register." Then, she bounces off.

"I wonder if she knows her name is the same as the store's name…" Macey mumbles.

I shrug my shoulders before I walk off to look through the racks of clothing. Macey follows, finding her size immediately.

"Looks like we have a winner…" I hear Aunt Abby through the comms. "It's…"

She didn't get to finish, however.

Because the windows to Blending shattered. People screamed, people scattered around the streets. Macey covers me with her own body easily. I'm the smallest, I'm the one who bruises the most, to their observations. She knows it's her duty to protect me first, especially since the Circle of Cavan wants me.

"Oh, my, god…" I hear Miscela screech.

I look through the curtain of Macey's hair that's in my face, and I freeze at what I see.

Catherine stands in the streets, hair blowing around like a halo. She looks beautiful, perilous…an intoxicating woman no one wants to mess with.

My heart stops.

"I'm looking for someone," she calls through the pandemonium. Her voice cuts through the screams and cries, silencing the crowd effortlessly. A gun is being held in her hands. I see other agents from the Circle with weapons, intimidating the civilians of Roseville, Georgia.

"Who?" someone from the crowd dares to ask.

Catherine's smile becomes predatory.

"Why, Cameron Morgan, of course."

Reviews

To miaadventure

Thanks for the review! I'm so glad you keep on reviewing this story, it motivates me to continue. :P. look forward to what you think of this chapter.

To

Thanks for the review! I'm so sorry for taking so long.

To mhernandez5

Thank you! :)

To Guest

Thank you. I hope you liked this chapter. Also, do you think you could give me a name so I won't have to refer to you as Guest, since that might become confusing if more people review as "Guests". You don't have to, though, if you feel uncomfortable. Thanks for the review.