AN: Chapters 1-10 have been edited! Nothing super vital was changed, I just fixed some plot holes and added some characterization.
Took me nearly 2 months to be happy with this chapter, so I hope you all like it!
Yeah, you may want to re-read Ella's second chapter in "Perspectives" to remind yourself of some of these characters…
Chapter 25: Piper
Late August, 2019
Three weeks later, I land at Dulles Airport from Amsterdam. It is the family Cornell's turn to host this year's Piper retreat.
After the stressful few weeks I've had, I am looking forward to just spending time in the woods with my family and friends at Camp David (yes, that's the United States President's personal campsite and no, he will not be there, luckily). My dad pulled quite a few strings to allow the whole Piper crew to stay here and I am very excited.
Noa, Oliver, and Fenna flew in with me from the Netherlands. Scorpia activity had died down pretty quickly after the Kurst decision. Tai had flown back to France or whatever hole he crawled out of, and Yuri had been back in America for the past two weeks.
It was nice to have some time with my friends to just enjoy the fleeting days of summer. It's unlikely we will get that much downtime together again for a long time.
As the four of us wait for our driver, I allow my mind to wander back to Alex. I haven't heard from him since that fateful night in Den Haag. I am definitely not going to message him first, so I think it's just best we keep our distance. Besides, I am not interested in boys who won't even text to check up on me. I shake my head to clear my thoughts when our driver finally arrives.
We exchange a few coded messages with him before getting into his car. Ollie sits up front while Fenna, Noa, and I are in the back. It's an hour and a half away from Dulles: Camp David is so far north in Maryland that it's practically in Pennsylvania.
After sleeping on the plane I am wired, but my friends are calm and quiet. I pick up my phone and check my texts to pass the time, angling it away from Noa sitting next to me. Still nothing from Alex since he texted to confirm the restaurant. Maybe he's giving me space and letting me reach out first, but three weeks is an awfully long time.
For the hundredth time since I last saw him, I begin drafting a text but erase it immediately. What is there to say, really?
A text comes through my phone a second later, and I open it in record time.
Fenna:
Just text him already. This is getting pathetic…
Noa is asleep on my shoulder so my range of motion is limited. I elect to text Fenna back rather than punching her in the arm and making this everybody's business.
Me:
i have nothing to say to him
Fenna:
You're letting your stubbornness get in the way of everything (at the very least your friendship).
Quit being stupid and just text him!
Me:
he could also text me, you know
Fenna:
You're the one who ran off without explanation. I think the ball is in your court.
I turn off my phone and ignore her, focusing on the trees out the window.
"Ella, it's so good to see you," my dad says warmly when we arrive. I give him the quickest side-hug known to man. We have only seen each other three times since I moved to England: the Texas mission, Christmas, and for my birthday in April when the whole family visited Oxford. The lower the contact the better, it seems.
"There's my girl," my mom greets me with a smile. As the more redeemable Cornell parent, I give her a real hug.
"Hi, Mama," I greet her, "I have a present for you."
"Elsje, thank you!" she exclaims. I had brought back our favorite brand of chocolate for her, Droste, from the Netherlands. She hasn't been home in nearly two years and I know she has been craving this.
I wave goodbye to Noa, Fenna, and Oliver and follow my parents to our family's cabin. There were seven cabins: one filled by each original family and one left empty for the Riders. Wherever we go for these annual meet-ups, we always leave one room or cabin free in their memory. It's very reminiscent of Roy Orbison's empty chair in the Traveling Wilburys' "End of the Line" music video. It's weird to think that this cabin may actually have a resident next year.
When I arrive at Casa Cornell, I am greeted by Christopher and Lilia immediately throwing themselves at me.
"Hey guys," I laugh, hugging them both back at once.
"Ellie, we've missed you so much," Lili whispers to me. She is getting so tall it's insane.
"Seriously, it's not the same without you," Christopher agrees.
"I know," I frown, "I miss you too." Leaving these two has always been the most difficult thing about moving to England.
I wave at James and Ava as I'm being dragged outside by Christopher and Lili. I missed these fools so much. "Is everyone else already here?"
"Yep. The Bermans got in maybe an hour before you did, and that's everyone." I nod.
"I think you have things to tell me," Christopher declares, and Lilia giggles.
"No way, Christopher, you guys first. How is home life treating you? Is there anything new?"
"Mom got some tropical fish," Lilia informs me, "There's like thirty of them in the living room now."
"Finally, she let you guys get a pet," I laugh. John and Michelle Cornell were begged for a pet essentially from the day I could talk until the day I moved out.
"Other than the fish, home looks about the same," Christopher explains, "And you already know everything about me. We call like three times a week! I'm learning Chinese and Judo, and Dad is finally teaching me how to drive."
"I can help you with the Chinese," I offer.
"Over the phone," he agrees, "While you're actually physically here I want to talk to you about the real, shouldn't-be-said-over-the-phone stuff. I already know the rest."
Ava appears from the cabin. "Hey Lili," she calls out, "Mom says you need to unpack your stuff."
"I want to hang out with Ella!" she protests.
"You can later," Ava promises, "But your stuff is a mess and Mom is annoyed." Lilia groans but does walk back towards the cabin. Once she's inside, Ava comes outside and takes her place. "Yes, Mom did actually want her to unpack her stuff, but I also wanted a chance to catch up with you two alone for a real conversation," Ava explains, answering all of my questions.
The three of us walk deep into the woods. We go to an old clearing where we know there is no cell service and no cameras. James, Ava, and I had discovered it nearly a decade ago. Even though Piper only meets here once every six years, the sitting president usually lets the Cornells come here for a week every summer. Being the CIA's princess does have its perks sometimes.
In fact, there was one year we came here at the same time as the Obamas. Sasha is like a year younger than me and she's really cool. We hung out for the entire week and we still text from time to time.
"So how have you really been, Ellie?" asks Ava, "I want the unedited version." This takes me aback for a second. Ava and I hadn't been close in years, despite being so similar in age.
Christopher speaks up. "After you left, Ava became my confidant and my way to learn about what Mom and Dad actually do," he explains, again answering my questions. It is so nice to be around people who already know what I'm going to say. That being said, it hurts a little that Christopher replaced me so quickly. We used to be the closest two siblings in the family.
I take a deep breath and ignore, ignore, ignore. I guess we're doing this. "I've been busy," I admit, "You know I was in the Netherlands for a few weeks. I wasn't just visiting Oma and Opa. I was actually there with Noa, Oliver, Fenna, and two other guys you don't know. There was this insane high-profile trial for one of the founding members of Scorpia," Ava's eyes widen, "And we were there to keep the peace and make sure there wasn't any backlash. The guy was found guilty, and we spent like, the two weeks leading up to the trial, the week-and-a-half encompassing the trial, and the week after the trial shutting down Scorpia activity."
"What were they doing?" Ava asks.
"Taking hostages from the trial at a restaurant, planting pipe bombs near the court, and other stuff like that. It got pretty crazy," I admit.
"I have another question," Christopher announces, "Why did you call me and make me call Oma that one time?" Ava raises an eyebrow, clearly hearing about this for the first time.
"Nothing at all," I lie with a smile, "You just hadn't called her in a while."
"Bullshit," Christopher declares and I laugh, "You're such a liar. I know it was a scheme, just tell me what it was!"
"Yeah, fine, but this stays between us. Promise?" Christopher and Ava nod. "This is going to be a long story," I preface, "Anyways, you guys remember Alex–the one I went on that mission with last July?"
"That guy you passed out in the car with before calling your underage brother who barely knew how to work a car to come and pick you up?" Christopher challenges, making Ava giggle.
"Thanks, Christopher. Yes, that guy. Anyway, I didn't really see him after that because I was busy going off the rails. I did see him for a day back in November and he helped me check into rehab in London–I'm sure you guys remember that very fine moment for me," they both nod. "After not speaking to him for months, I ran into him in Den Haag just by accident. He was there for the trial testifying against Scorpia. Turns out, he is not so different from me and also did a ton of fieldwork in his younger teenage years. I invited him to hang out and go on a mission with Noa, Oliver, Fenna, and some others you don't know. Long story short, we both got super drunk, and Cousin Johannes drove us back to Oma and Opa's. He was too drunk to remember where his hotel was so he slept in my bed with me."
"Gross," Christopher shakes his head, "You couldn't have skipped that part?"
"We just slept, Christopher," I defend myself for the hundredth time, "Do you want me to finish this story or not?"
"Yes," he replies automatically.
"Okay, then shut up. Unfortunately for me, Oma was there when we both woke up and had about a million questions," Ava laughs at this, "I avoided her that morning but needed your help distracting her so I could escape the house with Johannes to go and meet Noa and crew. I needed to talk to them about something and did not have time for 20 questions."
Christopher laughs. "Well, glad I could help."
"Tell me more about this Alex," Ava pleads.
"Well, the juiciest piece of gossip is–"
"That you're dating him?" Ava exclaims.
"No, you asshole, I'm not dating anybody. The juiciest piece of information is that his last name is Rider. Alex is the lost son of John Rider," Christopher and Ava's mouths drop, "Dad already knows, and I'm going to see if I can invite him to next year's Piper reunion."
Speaking of my dad, I run into him once Ava, Christopher, and I get back to our cabin. His car keys are in his hands and he's standing on the porch.
"Ready to go, Ella?" he asks.
I nod. This might be TMI, but I have an appointment to get the birth control implant in my arms removed and changed. My doctor is back in Northern Virginia and my Dad had offered to drive me.
You may be wondering how I as a teenage girl dealt with periods while on missions. The answer is: I didn't. I've had the birth control implant in my arm since I first got my period at 14. It's a hormonal method that effectively stopped me from getting periods. It's great, but my 5 years are up, and I need to get it replaced.
We walk over to the car quietly. My Dad is a tough one to hold a conversation with that isn't about work.
Once we're on the road, he finally breaks the silence. "So, Ella, how have you been doing with your language studying?" Phew. Softball question.
"I think I've finally reached fluency in Afrikaans. I've been learning it pretty inconsistently, but I think I'm finally there. I've made a lot of progress on my Portuguese–it almost feels like I'm cheating since I already speak French, Spanish, and Italian. My Japanese is lagging a bit–it's one of the hardest languages I've attempted. Also, I just started looking at Greek."
"Μπράβο," Brávo, my dad nods.
"Ɛυχαριστώ," Thank you, I smile. "We have, unfortunately, reached the end of my Greek."
"Mine too," my Dad laughs, and we fall into another awkward silence.
"So," I clear my throat, "How about the Nationals?" Spy or not, John Cornell is still a 50s-something American man and therefore not immune to some good old-fashioned baseball talk.
We spend the next twenty minutes or so discussing whether or not the Nats might get a playoff berth and how we don't need Bryce Harper anyway.
I'm tired from all of the travel and end up drifting off to sleep for the rest of the drive. I eventually wake up when I feel my dad park the car.
Groggy, I rub my eyes and look out the window. This is weird. "This isn't my doctor," I say, turning to my Dad, "And maybe I've been gone too long, but this doesn't look like Arlington either."
"Good eye," my Dad praises, "You're right. This is Frederick, Maryland. Dr. Cohen's office is closed today, so I scheduled you for an appointment with an office much closer to Camp David. You were only asleep for fifteen minutes. You'll be seeing Dr. Williams."
"Yeah, Dad, this is kind of a personal appointment and I'd rather go see the doctor I know," This is weird, even for him, "I don't mind waiting a few days."
"I background-checked him, don't worry."
"Him?" I repeat. "I'd really rather have a female doctor for this," I shift uncomfortably.
"Nonsense, Ella, don't be sexist. Now get out of my car. I'll wait for you here."
"It's not sexist to want to speak to someone with my own anatomy," I say under my breath but get out of the car anyway. My dad is very strict about medical professionals, so I do believe he at least background-checked the guy.
Ten minutes later, I'm sitting on the examination chair. It looks to be about a thousand years old and just sitting on it makes me want to get an STI test. I bring my knees up to my chin and ignore the stirrups, thanking my lucky stars I won't be needing them today. This will be simple. One incision in my arm, replace the stick, and slap a bandage on it. Easy.
A (thankfully female) nurse walks in a minute later. "Hi, Ella," she greets, looking at her chart, "My name is María and I'll be asking you a few questions today before the doctor comes in." I'm feeling nervous for some reason–too nervous to even practice my Spanish with María, who speaks with what I'm pretty confident is a Puerto Rican accent.
I answer a few general questions about my health before María exits, leaving me alone for a few more minutes. I am just about to text Noa or Ava or someone to tell them how weird this all is, but I'm interrupted by a knock at the door.
"Come in," I call back, and Dr. Williams walks in. He is definitely an ex-military doctor: he's about 6 feet tall with freshly-buzzed brown hair. He appears very muscular and walks in with authority. He walks over and shakes my hand and it's the classic squeezing-the-life out of my hand situation that always happens whenever I meet military guys.
"Nice to meet you, Ella," he greets me, "I've known your Dad for a few years."
"That's great," I say with a fake smile.
"Now, it says here you want to replace the birth control implant in your arm?"
"Yep."
"Okay, no problem," he says, reading through María's notes, "I do have a few questions for you first."
"Yeah, okay," I say, hugging my knees even closer.
"First, any chance you might be pregnant?"
"I mean, I have the implant so probably not," I reply carefully.
"Are you sexually active?"
"I am."
"Great, so when was your last sexual encounter?"
"Uh, how about I just take a pregnancy test?" I ask, "That's what I did the last time I got the implant."
"Well, you won't have to if there's no chance of pregnancy," he counters. I am immediately uncomfortable. I don't know what my dad put this guy up to, but I don't like it.
"Could María come back?" I ask, "I would really like to have another woman in the room." At the same time, I double-tap my chunky bracelet and discreetly check for the singular blink of a red light. Perfect. The audio recording has begun. I usually have a pretty good sense of when things are about to go awry in my life–I'm basically a walking Murphy's Law.
Dr. Williams is taken aback. "María is busy now. We'll be okay here."
"Yeah, I won't be answering any more questions until you find someone. It can be a different nurse or doctor. If you can't do that, I will be leaving."
Dr. Williams starts backtracking immediately. "Wait here, I will find someone."
I sigh with relief and take a deep breath, checking my bracelet to make sure it's still recording. I'm not sure what's going on here but something is definitely off.
Dr. Williams returns with a different nurse. She has a long brown ponytail and looks really young. "This is Nurse Tanya. She is happy to stay in the room with us."
"Nice to meet you," I greet her. When Dr. Williams turns around, I mouth a quick "Thank you" in her direction and she nods.
"So," Dr. Williams says, "Are you set on the implant or would you be willing to consider an IUD?"
I shiver. "No thank you. I'm happy with the implant." I understand objectively that IUDs are totally safe, but there is something about them that still kind of scares me.
"Okay," he nods, "You will have to take that pregnancy test before I put in your implant though." He hands me an empty cup and points me down the hall.
I return a few minutes later, sample in hand, and start another recording on my bracelet. I'll be able to grab the recordings from it once I'm home. Dr. Williams puts some type of strip in the sample and announces that I am in fact, not pregnant. Not that I was worried anyway.
He finally gets it together and replaces my implant. One incision. Tweezers. New implant in. Thick bandage for my arm. Easy.
Nurse Tanya lists off some general instructions that I only half-listen to, and I start to wonder why I even doubted this situation at all. Everything turned out to be just fine.
"A few more questions for you, Ella, before you leave," I nod, "Have you ever had a pap smear done?"
I shake my head. "I thought the recommended age was 21. I'm still 19."
"Well, the recommended age varies between physicians and between patients. If you've been sexually active for a few years, it's best to get it done."
I nod. "Thanks for the advice. I'll schedule an appointment when I get home."
"Or we could just do it now. I had a cancellation this afternoon and you're already here." Well, there drops the other shoe.
"Yeah, I think I'm good. Thanks though."
"Are you sure? If something really is wrong, even a few weeks can make a difference."
"Well, I'm 19 and got my HPV vaccine, so I'm probably fine," I'm not the medical expert in the room, but I at least know that.
"Well, it's better safe than sorry. I see on your medical history you spent some time in a drug rehabilitation center. If there's any chance you engaged in any sexual activity while under the influence, it's possible you didn't protect yourself properly. In my professional opinion, it's something worth checking out."
I furrow my brow. "Yeah," I say hesitantly, "That makes sense, I guess. Okay, let's do it."
I am instructed to put my feet on those godforsaken stirrups. I shut my eyes, lie back, and think of England.
I'm silent during the ride home. I focus on whatever innocuous pop songs are on the radio and do everything I can to shut the hell up. I really want this week to go smoothly without fighting with my Dad, and simply not engaging is my only defense against that.
When we get back, I lie down for a few hours. Some combination of the new implant and the Pap smear is giving me painful cramps.
After the sun finally goes down, all of the adult Piper children (i.e. everyone but Christopher and Lilia) sit together in that empty Rider cabin. It's been a tradition since Johannes and Adriaan, Fenna's eldest and deceased brother, were about fifteen years old. The oldest kids enter the empty Rider cabin to smoke a ton of weed and just talk about life. My first time ever smoking was when I was fifteen at one of these meetings. We would have invited Christopher for the first time this year, but the poor guy had gone to bed early before we could talk to him.
I'm sitting in my usual spot between Noa and Oliver, and the rest of the Piper kids join us to create a circle.
It has been a year since I had seen Danny Brooke, but I have seen everybody else fairly recently. Noa, Johannes, Oliver, and Fenna were in the Netherlands with me this summer. I saw my siblings in April. I went to Sem's medical school graduation in Amsterdam back in May. I spent my week of spring break down in Tel Aviv with Noa and her brothers, Oren and Roee. Last, I tried to see Clara and Oliver at least once a month while living in England.
Oliver and Fenna produce a bag full of rolled joints and light one. After they both smoke from it, Oliver passes it to me and it goes around the circle until everyone has taken a hit from it. Johannes, the oldest of the group, takes the joint and crushes it out. With our opening ritual complete, we are now ready to start.
Johannes stays standing. "I first wanted to congratulate Sem on graduating medical school, James on graduating college, and Roee for finishing his conscription since we've last met," he smiles warmly and everyone claps, "Great work, boys. Ava, Danny, and Clara are now halfway through their degrees and Ella just finished her first year at uni. Noa and Oren are just a few months into their conscription and we wish them all well." Johannes is so dear. He would have made an amazing older brother and I'm beyond lucky to call him my cousin. "Now, with that out of the way, I open the floor to you all."
"Truthfully you all are going to have to catch me up a little," Danny is the first to speak up, "I see you cunts maybe once a year and it's hard to keep everything straight." As our resident Australian, Danny loves that word and I always laugh when he says it, especially after a little weed. "Oliver and Fenna, are you guys still a thing?" Fenna stops fishing a second joint out of the bag to kiss Oliver on the mouth. "Glad to see it," he smiles, "Anyone else here fucking?"
Despite most of us Piper kids being fairly close in age, Fenna and Oliver have been the only two to ever actually get together. Everyone here I'm not blood-related to is too much like a sibling to me to ever even consider it.
"Ella and I," Noa says mischievously.
"Shut the fuck up," Danny and I say in unison.
"Like you could do any better than me," Noa teases. I shrug because she's probably right. I steal the joint from Fenna and take a long drag of it. All jokes aside, it's good to be back.
"Great," Danny continues, "I'll actually be in London next semester to study abroad. It's currently Clara, Ella, and sometimes Fenna and Oliver in the UK, right?" We all nod. "Great, I expect a comprehensive tour of the country and for my meals to be comped."
"Spoken like a true diplomat," Ollie teases.
"Fuck off," Danny replies, taking a joint of his own. Noa and I have commandeered the other one for ourselves, "Any other major life updates that I should know about? I need everybody to give me a salacious detail immediately."
"I have a girlfriend," my brother, James, responds automatically.
Danny sighs dramatically. "Is that all?"
James shifts uncomfortably. He has never really gotten on with Danny for all the same reasons I love him. Danny is loud, dramatic, and has a special talent for calling people out which is absolutely hilarious until you're on the wrong end of it. Even then, it's still pretty funny. "Well we've been together nearly seven months," James replies, "We met in school and her name is Amanda."
Danny yawns emphatically. "Still not the juicy gossip I was looking for. For example, last month I tried Chemsex for the first time. It lasted eight straight hours and it was awesome," he brags, emphasizing the word 'awesome.'
My eyes widen. "Meth?" I ask, incredulously.
"Nope, but I like the way you think. It was poppers. Oh, and I snorted some Adderall," he grins sheepishly. "Anyways, Ella, you get me. I know you have some stories to share with me." I shrug and steal the joint back from Noa.
"Hey!" she protests as I take another hit from it.
"I need something to take the edge off," I bump her bicep with my fist, "And yeah I do have good stories because I know how to have fun," I grin at James, teasingly.
"Yeah, so much fun you went to rehab," he shoots back. My face falls. Only my siblings, the Yaron siblings, and Oliver knew about that. Everyone looks at me at once and Noa grabs my hand.
"You went to rehab?" Danny questions me immediately, his voice cutting through the heavy silence like a knife. "I knew you had stories."
"Danny, shut the fuck up for a second," Oliver says through his teeth, "James, what the hell was that?" he demands.
"Can't we talk about this somewhere private?" James shifts uncomfortably.
"Seeing as you couldn't give Ella that luxury, my final answer is no."
Noa squeezes my hand. "You okay, Ella?" she asks. I stare at my shoes and don't answer her.
Oliver stands up and motions for James to do the same. Noa grabs me by the hand and leads me outside with them, and Ava comes too. We all walk about thirty feet away from the cabin and Ava hugs me.
Noa and Ava each have an arm linked to one of mine, while Oliver genuinely might kill James in front of three witnesses. Oliver shoves James up against a tree and there are only a few inches between the two guys. Oliver's hands are on James' shoulders and he's holding him against the tree.
"James, what the fuck was that?" he demands.
"Danny wanted secrets," James says flippantly.
"Danny wanted fun and debaucherous anecdotes. He wasn't asking you to expose classified information about your sister," he growls.
James doesn't say anything, so it's Noa who finally speaks up. "How do you expect to survive a singular day in the field when you immediately spill secrets after being asked one singular low-stakes question?" She challenges him.
"He was being a dick to me," James shoots back.
"How?" Oliver spits at him.
"Well," James flounders, "He was just being rude."
"James," I finally find my voice, and Noa squeezes my hand, "He implied you were lame and then you told everyone I went to rehab. The only asshole here is you."
Still pinned up against a tree, James replies "He didn't need to diminish my relationship."
"Sure," Oliver concedes, "But what does that have to do with Ella?"
We're interrupted by another figure approaching us. "Johannes," Ava greets our cousin.
"Cornells, what's with the in-fighting?" Johannes sighs. He is way too old for this, "You're both better than this."
"No they aren't," Noa mumbles, and despite everything, I have to cover up a laugh. Ava does too. Even Johannes lightens up a little.
"James," he suggests, "Why don't you just walk it off and go back to your cabin."
"That's a little hard when I'm being held against a tree," James counters and Ollie lets go of him, causing him to fall in a heap in front of the tree.
"There you go," he announces.
Before anyone else can say anything, I see everyone else leaving the Rider cabin. Fenna and her older brother, Sem, walk right past me. "You did a pretty good job of killing the vibe in there," Fenna murmured to me, "Everyone is just going to bed." Clara, Oliver's younger sister, is right behind them. "You coming, Olls?" Fenna asks.
Oliver looks down at James and then back to me. "I'm fine, Ollie."
"I'll make sure everybody gets home safe," Johannes promises him. Oliver shrugs and follows the others back home.
"Thanks, Ollie," I whisper as he passes me, and he taps my shoulder.
The last to leave are Noa's brothers, Roee and Oren, flanked by one Danny Brooke. Danny is in between them with an arm around both of their shoulders. A joint hangs out of his mouth and I know he feels exactly like Heath Ledger.
It's a funny visual. He's a skinny blonde kid with buff military guys on either side of him. Despite his hair gel, khakis, and navy blue polo shirt, no one on Earth thinks they're more of a badass than Danny Brooke.
"Ella!" he calls out, "I hereby invite you to one afterparty." His eyes scan the rest of the crowd: Noa, Johannes, and my siblings, "Noa, I had better see your cute ass there too."
"Dude, that's our sister," Oren teases, and he and Roee both let Danny fall into a heap.
"Well this is no way to treat a guest," Danny shakes his head and brushes his pant legs off. With the joint still dangling from his teeth and dirt in his messy hair. He looks back up, "James, sashay away. The rest of you are cool."
"I'll take James home," offers Ava. The peacemaker role has always suited her more even though I'm the true middle child.
"I think I'll join this afterparty, as long as I'm not too old," Johannes laughs, "I could go for some fun." Jokes aside, he is definitely coming to keep an eye on me. I know this. My siblings know this. All three Yarons know this. Danny Brooke clearly does not know this.
"Try and keep up Old Man," he teases and leads the way into a new cabin–the one we use for food storage and dining.
The six of us arrive and Noa is promptly put on bartender duty. She is immediately affronted by the lack of Arak, pomegranate juice, and the general preference towards American-brand liquors.
"Just make something already," Danny complains. We're all sitting at a long mess hall table while Noa is scavenging through the fridge.
"Danny, I'll spit in your drink," she yells back. As the only daughter in her family, Noa's first words were probably yelling at one of her brothers.
"That's not the punishment you think it is," he winks.
"Danny, achi, you need to stop flirting with my sister. You don't just bat for different teams, you play different sports entirely."
"Leave my gay boyfriend alone, Roee," Noa yells back.
"Hurry up with those drinks or I'll start flirting with him," Roee counters.
"Promise?" Danny asks.
Roee flips him off, "Put on some muscle mass and we'll talk."
Noa mercifully arrives with six glasses of orange liquid. "All I could make were Screwdrivers," she pouts.
"Screwdriver? I hardly even know her," Oren replies. Noa rolls her eyes and ignores her twin.
"So Ella," Danny stops staring at Roee's arms and turns to me, "Spill."
"She doesn't have to," Johannes says from my left.
"Thanks, Johann," I reply, "James is an asshole and that was not his news to tell. Basically, I got injured and hooked on pain pills for a couple months," I say, oversimplifying everything.
Danny nods magnanimously. "Well, I'll know to stick to uppers next time we party," he smiles and I am relieved he leaves it at that. "Anyways, I know one of you must have some good stories for me."
"Danny, they're literally all in the military," I laugh. Johannes nods.
Roee speaks up. "I have a girlfriend," he mocks and I'm laughing so hard that Noa is wiping the tears from my eyes.
"I thought you belonged to the guys," Danny remarks.
"I like both, as long as they don't look like your skinny ass. Three straight years of co-ed military training gyms have been transcendent."
"Those three years were definitely not straight," Danny says at the same time Noa and Oren cover their ears and start humming in unison.
"Grow up," Roee rolls his eyes at his siblings.
"I don't want to hear about anyone's sex lives," Noa puffs her chest out, "Except yours," she points at me, "I've always loved a good trainwreck."
"If by trainwreck you mean falling for three of the disastrously wrong people in a row, then you would be correct," I give her a thumbs up.
"Last person everyone had sex with, go," Danny (mercifully) interrupts, finishing his drink already, "Mine was with Lachlan No-Last-Name about 72 hours ago."
"Sounds magical," Oren mumbles.
"Oh yeah?" Danny challenges, "What's your answer?"
"Dude, my audience is my brother, my twin sister, and her best friend. I know when to keep my mouth shut."
"I've trained you well," Noa grins.
"Buzzkills," Danny pouts, reaching for Roee's drink.
"Absolutely not," he replies, glaring at Danny.
"Here, take mine," Johannes hands Danny his glass, "I need a little air, but I'll be right outside if anyone needs me." He leaves the cabin quickly. It's weird, but I ignore it.
Noa and I remain on one side of the picnic table, while her brothers and Danny sit at the other. It is Danny, unsurprisingly, who breaks the silence. "Okay, since these military kids won't fess up about their secret debaucherous lives, it looks like it's you and me, Ella."
I stifle a laugh. I think I could tell you every bad thing the Yaron siblings have ever done since birth. Besides Noa being my best friend and confidant, she and her brothers are always using me as either a confessional or a way to rat each other out. There are no real secrets there. For example, there's the time that Oren snuck out of their home in Tel Aviv to party and ended up stranded in the West Bank the next morning (he woke me up in the middle of the night to talk to his parents on the phone for two hours so he could sneak back home); Noa has a penchant for getting into bar fights; and let me just say that Roee was not joking about his (honestly impressive) romantic escapades while living in military barracks.
"Ella, snap out of it," Danny claps in front of my face.
I must have zoned out for a moment (thanks, substances) and he brings me back to reality. "Sorry, Danny."
"Current state analysis of your love life," he declares. Danny has always been the king of intrusive questions.
"Unrequited at best, requited at worst," I respond, taking a long sip of my drink. It is a Noa Yaron classic–way more vodka than orange juice–and the taste burns the back of my throat.
"Ella, Babe, you're going to have to elaborate on that."
Noa cuts in. "She's in love with a British boy!" she announces.
"I'm not in love with him."
"Give it two weeks," Noa brushes me off.
I roll my eyes. "His name is Alex and I am definitely not in love with him. He works for basically the British equivalent of what my dad does," I keep this part cryptic, "And we left things off really weird a few weeks ago."
"Weird how?" Danny asks.
"Well, I've known him for a year now, but we hadn't spoken since November. Then, when Noa and I were in the Hague a few weeks ago, I ran into him purely by accident. We hung out one night as a group, and a few days later he asked me out. Well, his boss who works for the British Government overhears this, joins our dinner, and tries to basically hire me to screw over my family," I summarize quickly, taking another sip of my drink.
"Ella, can I recommend you just date a woman?" Danny rolls his eyes.
"Dating women? You mean the thing that sent her to rehab?" Roee smirks at me. Let's just say that me knowing everything the Yarons have ever done goes both ways. With the exception of all of our job specifics, there really are no secrets.
I sock him in the arm, lovingly. "Danny, considering my past three relationships are better known as dead, led me on, and British Government boy, I think I should be dating no one."
"We'll find you a no-strings-attached hookup then. Before we leave, I got you."
"Danny, everyone here is either my blood relative or has known me since birth."
"Well that does present us with a problem, doesn't it," Danny considers.
"This is genuinely so boring," Oren complains, "Let's find something to do that involves drugs and alcohol.
And so, we decide to challenge each other to different games, such as a footrace (Roee dominates), the Danny Brooke personal trivia game (it's close between Noa and me, but I win out), your basic drinking games like Pong and Flip Cup (Oren routes us all in the former, while Danny is annoyingly good at the latter), and the Chubby Bunny challenge (in which Noa manages to fit seventeen marshmallows in her mouth before spitting them all at Oren).
The four losers of each "challenge" have to flip a coin: heads means you have to take a hit from the joint Noa stole from Oliver and tails means you have to take a sip of your Screwdriver.
After about an hour, I am so crossed that I can barely remember how to speak English. Danny is hyper-focused on his shoes. Oren is covered in marshmallow spit, and Noa has clumps of the stuff in her hair.
Roee comes out relatively unscathed and suggests we go outside and stare at the stars. Remember, we're all city kids and don't get to see them often. We walk outside slowly, and it takes somewhere between four seconds and four hours to leave the cabin. I fall to the grass next to Noa and spend the next eternity holding her hand and mumbling about the constellations in Dutch and Hebrew.
Around three in the morning, I'm awoken by Roee helping Noa and me off of the ground. It's time to go–my family doesn't need to find me passed out in the grass in the morning.
I wave goodbye to Noa and see my Cousin Johannes. He is holding a bottle of water, some ibuprofen, and a hotdog bun, which I gratefully accept, eating and drinking them on the walk back to my family's cabin.
I am still really high and stumbling a little bit, and Johannes is acting on his cousinly duties to make sure I get home safe. It's really sweet of him.
After approximately seven hours of walking, we make it back. I sit down on the front porch, hoping to steady myself.
Johannes pauses for a second before sitting down next to me on the stairs. I rest my head on his shoulder and shut my eyes. It's the only thing that stops the world from swaying around me. "You okay, kid?" Johannes asks, putting his arm around me. It feels so safe and comforting that I barely remember to answer him.
"Yeah, Cousin, thanks," I murmur.
We sit there for a while–who really knows how long–and I definitely fall asleep for a time. My eyes flutter open and Johannes notices right away.
"Feeling better?" he asks me, his arm still around me.
"Yeah, I am," I say slowly, "Definitely still high, but that's okay," he pats my shoulder. "Was I asleep too long?" I ask him.
"I wouldn't have cared if you were," he smiles back. "Now, can I help you up?"
"Wait," I protest, finally lifting my head off of his shoulder. I regret it immediately and put it back. Johannes chuckles. "Can we talk for a few minutes?"
"Of course, Elsje, what's up?
"Why'd you leave the cabin earlier?"
Johannes exhales. "I wanted to give you a little space to talk to your friends. I only came with you to make sure you were alright, but obviously, you're safe with the Yarons, and Danny is the least threatening person on the planet."
I smile. "You know, you're not too old to hang out with us. Everyone loves your company."
"I appreciate it, Elsje." We sit in silence for a few more minutes.
"Thanks for always being on my side, Johannes," I whisper.
"That's what family is for," he shrugs it off, shifting my head in the process. I pause for a second to wait for the campsite to stop tilting.
"Not my family. I'm really glad I have you. You and Oliver are my real older brothers," I say, slurring my speech a little.
Johannes puts an arm around me. "I think you and I were meant to be siblings, but some wires got crossed along the way."
I close my eyes and see those exact wires he's talking about. They are tangled. He's so right. "Johannes, that is the single most profound thing I've ever heard," I mumble into his shoulder and he laughs.
"You are still really high," he chuckles.
"Just in tune with the universe," I reply, still visualizing those knotted wires, burning hot and bright from the beginning of the universe all the way to Johannes and I sitting on this very porch. I stay quiet for a few more minutes. "Even though the wires are all twisted up, I'm glad we still got to be cousins."
"Me too, Elsje, me too."
The next morning (okay, it's more like 2pm when I finally wake up and get my act together) I knock on the door of my father's office in our cabin. "Come in," he calls out, "Ella, nice to see you. How can I help you?" He's sitting at his desk. Ever the military man, my Dad awoke at 5 this morning–only about an hour after I finally left Johannes to get some sleep.
"Hey Dad," I sit down across from him, "I wanted to talk to you about something."
"You're coming home?!" he exclaims, "Ella, I knew you would come to your senses."
"Dad, no," I shake my head, "I'm in school. Seriously, can I talk to you?" I look down at my shoes: black military combat boots. There is no way I would hike in my Docs.
His eyes harden for just a second before softening up again. My father doesn't break form often but it's extremely off-putting whenever he does. "Sure."
"I want to invite Alex Rider to the Piper meeting next year." That flash of anger returns to my father's eyes and I tense up for that second.
"Now Ella, I don't really see the point of that. He won't even know anyone."
"He knows me," I reply, "And you. He also knows Noa, Fenna, and Oliver. He's even met Mom and Christopher. Seems like a lot to me."
"How does he know Noa, Fenna, and Oliver?" My Dad exclaims, the anger in his eyes there to stay, "Have you been hanging out with this boy? I thought you two didn't speak anymore."
"Woah, woah, woah, Dad, cool it down. We ran into each other in the Netherlands a few weeks ago. That's how he met everyone. Anyway, I thought you liked Alex. When I first called you to say I'd met him you seemed happy."
"That was until he dragged you into MI6!" he shakes his head, "He got my own daughter to go against me and work for British Intelligence."
"Dad, that's not what happened and you know it. I got myself into that mess by not being careful. I haven't done anything with '6 in nearly a year!" I take a deep breath, "In fact, I turned down a mission offer from them a few weeks ago."
A smile creeps across my Dad's face. I shudder involuntarily. "This boy tried to recruit you back to '6?" he asks, "And you said no. I'm proud of you, El–"
'No, Dad, Mrs. Jones tried to recruit me. Alex actually defended me when she got too pushy."
"So you're asking me to bring your boyfriend to the next Piper meeting?" He challenges me, making very intense eye contact, "I thought we agreed. You promised you were going to marry Teddy Byrne, and now I hear you're fooling around with British spies? Ella, it's time for you to grow up and get serious."
I blink a couple of times trying to process what my own father just said to me. "Can we stop with the insane accusations and jumping to conclusions? I'd like to explain myself. Contrary to what you seem to believe, this is a conversation with your daughter, not a terrorist negotiation." My dad rolls his eyes but stays quiet, so I continue. "I am not dating Alex or anyone. I am focusing on school right now and don't need any more distractions. Furthermore, I am not marrying Teddy Byrne. He's like five years older than me and you've been saying this for years. That's weird, Dad. Does Joe Byrne even know you've promised your teenage daughter to his adult son?" My dad's face is turning more and more red, but I keep going. "I don't want to work for MI6 and you know it. Mrs. Jones approached me in The Netherlands and I ran away from her. Alex is just my friend and I'm still getting to know him. He doesn't have any family left and I thought he would like to know a little more about his roots. That's all. This isn't some elaborate scheme to bring him to you, steal your secrets, and take down America with the help of British Intelligence."
"Tell me more about what Mrs. Jones said to you," My Dad says automatically, completely missing every point I had just made.
I sigh. "Okay, but it's a long story. I had run into Alex in Den Haag by chance. He was testifying against Kurst for the Scorpia case. We hung out for a night which is where I introduced him to Noa, Fenna, and Oliver. A few days later, I bump into him in front of the ICC and Mrs. Jones is there. She invites me to dinner with no way out. I go and get dinner with Mrs. Jones and Alex and before I even get my food she starts trying to recruit me. She tells me that '6 needs my language skills to spy on both the CIA and the foreign embassies in Washington. She wanted to send Alex and me over here to investigate because those organizations are apparently spying on England. I basically told her where she could shove those mission plans and went home. I haven't spoken to either her or Alex since."
My Dad smiles widely, "I am so proud of you."
"What?" I seriously need a substance after this conversation.
"That was a test and you passed," My Dad keeps smiling.
"Dad, explain yourself," my voice cracks and I hate it so much. I sneak a glance at my Apple Watch (which has more spying features on it than actual features) and discreetly start recording.
He crosses his arms across his chest. "Mrs. Jones said she saw you in The Netherlands. She reached out to me to see if you were on a mission for us and I told her no, you don't work for me anymore. I then had one of my contacts in England let slip some falsified proof of us spying on England with help from some foreign embassies. Of course, Ella, we're spying on the English, but they'll never know the extent of it. Anyway, the false documents went straight to Jones and naturally she thought of you. Who better to recruit than the disillusioned daughter of a CIA executive with impressive language skills. The assignment was practically designed especially for you. Oh wait," he smirks, "It was."
I stare back at him, unable to process what I just heard. "Go on," my voice is small.
"Jones, of course, believed the documents–I need to give the kid who fabricated them a raise," he trails off, "In any case, she went to you almost immediately to try to recruit you. I know Jones used that as a test, but I did too and Sweetie, you passed," he beams.
"What test?" I am growing more desperate. Was everything I knew about that night a lie? A manufactured situation?
"Well, Jones wanted to see how far you would go to spend time with Alex," I stare blankly and wait for him to continue, "She saw you drop him off after spending the night with you–we both really thought we had a secret romance on our hands."
"Jesus, Dad, we got drunk and he forgot where his hotel was. You can ask Cousin Johannes–"
"Ella, who do you think I am? Of course, I have already done that. I do believe you on that front, for the record. Both your cousin and Oliver spoke on your behalf." I say a silent thanks to them. They may be my harshest critics, but they're also my staunchest allies. I thank both the Jewish and Catholic Gods that my friends are truly on my side. "Jones and I also had another question: where your loyalties lie. You defended your country without hesitation and I am so proud of you. Go, stay in England for the next three years, but know that your job and your home will be waiting for you here in Washington right after graduation," this man has not stopped smiling so I decide to finally play along.
"Wow, Dad, I can't believe you tricked Mrs. Jones like that. I wonder if she ever found out."
"Of course not! You should know my team better than that. In fact, I've received word that Alex landed in Washington only a few hours after you did to actually investigate the embassies. Of course, he won't find anything, and once I'm back from vacation I'll handle him."
"Handle him?" Against all odds, I keep my voice steady.
"Yeah. I need to teach MI6 a lesson for spying on us, and I need to teach young Alex a lesson for hanging around my daughter. I haven't decided how exactly I am going to maim him yet, but you can rest assured he won't come around anymore. And he certainly won't be going on any more missions."
AN: RIP Ella, you would have loved the term "situationship."