Hello again! Thanks so much for reading. Really. I am forever in your debt. Also, a huge thanks to everyone who has followed/reviewed/favorited this story. It means a lot to me. Please, please, please keep the reviews coming! If you like it, please tell me (it helps my ego.) If you hate it, please tell me (it helps keep my ego in check.) In all seriousness, I love positive reviews because I know that someone wants to read this, and I love negative reviews because I know what I'm doing wrong, so keep them coming! :) I've got a four day weekend this week, so lots of time for writing hopefully! Happy Valentine's Day! Lots of love, Tickgrey

"Now, you have to understand, this was a different era entirely. It was perfectly acceptable to use a mule…" I vaguely recall hearing Madame Dabney say. I was in a sort of semi-conscious state. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure I would have actually really enjoyed hearing about whatever Madame Dabney did with a mule, but I just couldn't stay awake. I had way too much work last night to get any semblance of sleep.

"Oh, Mr. Solomon! Can we help you?" Madame Dabney asked politely when he appeared at the doorway.

For such an incredible spy, he didn't look so good. He had dark bags under his eyes and his hair was visibly ruffled. He merely said, "I need Cameron."

Madame Dabney nodded, and I walked out the door. He led me to an empty part of the hallway and lowered his voice to a near whisper, "Cammie, it's your mom. She's missing."

I'm not entirely sure what happened next. I remember being incredibly dizzy and nearly fainting on the spot. But I looked into Mr. Solomon's eyes and knew that he was feeling just as sick. I managed to stutter, "Since when?"

"She missed her first call in a week ago," he started barely louder than a mumble. "But that isn't completely abnormal. Today we got word from her team that they think she's been taken."

I knew what the answer was, but for some reason I asked anyways, "By whom?"

"The Circle."

Mr. Solomon led me to Professor Buckingham's office where she looked far older than she had the last time I saw her. I knew stress like this was weighing. Finally, I saw Aunt Abby sitting on the chair in the corner. She was on the verge of tears. I'd never quite seen her like this.

"Hey, squirt," she managed to muster. I could tell that even trying to act that cheerful was painful. It was in stark contrast to when I heard her say 'Hey, Squirt" sophomore year when she was sent to protect Macey. That was the first time I had seen her since Dad's death. I didn't really have a response to her greeting, so I merely looked at her.

Professor Buckingham must have noticed that I was about to collapse, so she motioned towards the couch against the wall. I sat down and briefly shut my eyes. I wished so much that when I opened my eyes, it would all be better. That my mom would be back in her office making a disgusting (and potentially lethal) homemade dinner on Sunday night. That she would be there to comfort me when I felt like this.

Professor Buckingham began, "We're very confident that she is alive still. Langley is actively searching for her, so if this is a misunderstanding, we'll know soon enough. She was on an op with Agent Townsend and the Baxters. They had been taking down and capturing high-level Circle targets all winter. We feared that they might have been compromised after a mission went bad, but they appeared to have gotten away clear at the time. We think that's when the Circle first got sight of your mother."

I knew that she was trying to cheer me up by making me feel in the loop or making me think she was just lost, but it was difficult to listen to anything she said. My thoughts couldn't help but drift anywhere but the stark room I was left in. I remembered back to my mom's face when she told me that dad was never coming home. She was agonized. It was a side of her I had never seen before then nor had I ever seen since. I felt exactly like that now.

All I wanted to do was get out of there, so I swallowed, "Is that all?"

Professor Buckingham looked worried, but she nodded solemnly.

"Excuse me," I said. Aunt Abby and Mr. Solomon both looked like they wanted to stop me and comfort me, but I flew out of the room before they could make a move to stop me. I made my way to the nearest working passageway, and I crawled as far in as I could. I didn't stop until I reached my favorite spot: a small, dingy corner with a small window overlooking the lake. I just sat down and cried.

"Squirt?" I heard the familiar voice say. "You back here?"

There was no point in trying to hide or run because she obviously knew I was there. They did, after all, have cameras in the outside halls. I replied, "Yeah."

Aunt Abby crawled into the light and sat next to me. She sighed and said, "She'll be back in no time."

I looked at her, my eyes filled with doubt and exhaustion. I was so tired from feeling sad and crying. She simply continued, "We have pretty good reasons to believe that she's still alive. Unlike when Matt was captured, they're not looking for information from her or looking to silence her."

"Then why did they capture her?" I asked. My voice crackled and sputtered, but I managed to get the sentence out.

Abby sighed and replied, "There's not really an easy way to tell you this, but we think they're trying to draw you out. You're essentially responsible for the chaos in their organization caused by both us and the splinter group, so they want you dead. They don't forget this kind of stuff."

"So, if they get me, they'll let her go or something?" I asked.

Abby must have heard something in my voice she didn't like because she said, "Don't even think about it, Cam. We're taking care of it. As soon as we zero in on her location, we'll send in an extraction team."

I noticed something startling in her words; she seemed hopeless. She seemed like she didn't believe we ever would zero in on her location. I think I started crying again, but I had cried so much that it was almost an unconscious act now.

Aunt Abby offered her hand and said, "Want to go get something to eat?"

I shook my head, "Can I just be alone for awhile?"

She nodded. She added as she made her way out, "When you're ready to talk more, I'm here."

I'm not really sure when I fell asleep, but I remember dreaming. I was little again. Mom took me to the zoo. We were looking at the elephants when I disappeared from her view. I was only sitting a few meters away on a park bench, but I was a pavement artist. Not even my own super-spy mother could see me. I remembered watching her as she frantically looked around for me, but I didn't move. I just sat there watching her. I wished now that I could go back and hug her. I wished that I never made her feel like she had lost me, because I know knew how awful the feeling was.