I'm here for you

Chapter five

"Cool… There is actually one thing I want to ask all of you… Who is Anita…?"

All the others at the lunch table looked to Victor. She was his partner after all, so he should be the one to answer this question.

"She was… is my partner. Anita is a Secret Agent like me, but for now…"

Eliza gave Victor a surprised look. "What happened to her?"

Victor swallowed before he continued. Of course this new agent had to know what happened to Anita, but he didn't like to tell it. He didn't like to tell the rest that he had failed his partner. That he wasn't there for her when she needed him the most.

"We had a Reptogator attack. We didn't know where they were, so we all split up. Anita had an encounter with the Reptogator. At this moment, she's at Medical Bay… In a coma…"

Eliza fell silent. "I… I don't know what to say. I'm sorry, Victor."

"Me too… I wish I had been there for her so she didn't have to face this monster on her own."

Kowalski shook her head. "You don't know what would have happened, Victor. For all we know, you or I could have encountered this Reptogator. Or the two of you would be in Medical Bay right now."

Kent nodded. "She's a strong woman, Victor. She won't give up so easily."

"I know, I know…."

Before Victor could say anything else, his communicator started to ring. "Yes, Professor Professor, what can I do for you?"

"Could you bring Eliza to my lab? I have her equipment ready for her."

Victor looked to Eliza. "Let's go. If there will be an attack of any kind, you will be able to fight them off."

Eliza nodded, said goodbye to the other agents and soon they were on their way to the lab.

"Listen, Victor, I'm sorry I asked about…"

Victor shook his head. "Don't be sorry, Eliza. Everyone asked about her and they will be asking about her the upcoming days or maybe even weeks. It was more or less your right to know about her."

A moment of silence fell. "I don't know what they've told you when they said you could be my partner, but this will be temporary. Or at least, I hope so."

Eliza nodded. She told Victor that this was an opportunity for her to get to work for U.Z.Z. in the UK and how she at that point would grab every opportunity to go to England to be with her lover. She loved her country, but she wanted to be with the love of her life.

They walked into the lab of Professor Professor. "This is the place where you'll find Professor Professor, most of the time. He makes the most totally untested and very dangerous inventions. So you'd better watch out when he asks you to test something for him."

"Duly noted." said Eliza while they approached Professor Professor. He wasn't alone in the lab. Special Agent Ray was also waiting for them.

"Ha, agent Eliza. There you go, your own ray gun and communicator. If you want to test them, you can test them in the Training Room." said Professor Professor.

"Great. Is there any news, Ray?" asked Victor while he looked at Ray. He wanted to see what Eliza already knew, but he had to know that there wasn't an attack coming up.

"Nothing much really. The Impostors are still under the ground, just like the Reptogators. The Chef is still in prison and Doctor Doctor is on holiday."

"Holiday?" said both Victor and Eliza.

"Why yes, to Monkey Nut Island again." said Professor Professor with a big smile.

"I'm not going back there ever again." Victor warned Professor Professor. He had been there once and he wasn't keen on going back there. It was weird.

"Don't you worry, we don't want the same thing happening again." said Ray and he looked to Eliza. "It's not worth it."

"What… What does that mean?" she asked Victor in surprise.

"It's a long story." said Victor and he looked back at Ray. "How about the Floaty Heads?

"They were blown away by a strong headwind."

"It's a good day for training then. We might need it." said Victor and he looked back at Eliza. "Let's go to the Training Room."

Eliza nodded, still curious about what had happened on Monkey Nut Island.

"Don't worry, I'll tell you all about that mission tomorrow." Professor Professor whispered to Eliza before she left his lab.

At that point, the only thing Victor could do was sigh. He hoped things would be back like it used to be soon. Until then, he hoped Eliza could be just as good as Anita always had been.