The Secret Society

The fight

Plan B consisted of us waiting in a cleaning closet, up against each other, staring at a small screen that let us watch the door so when the guards came we'd know. I felt One's arm pressed against mine. We were both sitting, practically on top of each other.
       "Can you move over?" One groaned.
       "Move over where, One?" I replied, annoyed. "Towards the wall I'm shoved against?"
       "You're literally like. On top of me," he groaned. I sighed in annoyance and he stood. "There. A bit more room." I let out a sigh of relief and relaxed a bit. He handed me the screen and I held it up so we could both see it. We still had about half an hour. "You know. Talking about past experiences help, Twenty One."
      I took a deep breath. "What happened to not pushing for info?"
       "I'm just letting you know." I stared at the screen and took a deep breath. "Just between you and me. I won't tell anyone. I promise." Secret Society
     "I don't really know what happened that night, One. So it's not that I don't want to talk about it. It's that I can't." I let my head fall.
      I felt him crouch beside me. "I'm so sorry," he whispered. "Life is hard, and our brains try to get rid of our worst memories. Things are maybe going to resurface those memories." He sighed and rested a hand on my shoulder. "I just hope that you'll ever have to relive those memories." We sat in silence until there was motion on the sensors and One stiffened.
       "That's them. Get ready," One whispered. My fingers moved involuntarily around my gun. He nodded. He counted down in a whisper from three and the door opened.

The man had three guards, two on his left and one on his right. One had quickly shot down one but the other two were on him quickly as our target ran into his room. I quickly caught the door before it could shut. I walked slowly into the room, my gun ready. I turned and propped open the door with a shoe, sliding it off then snapped back around and saw the room was huge. I walked slowly around, making sure that my sight was at least in part on the door. I saw the man come out from a door way and try to make it to the door. My bullet went through his leg as he fell. I kicked him in the face and pointed my gun at his head. My mind suddenly felt like it was teleported. To that night. I could remember it clearly.
My hands shook on the gun. It was aimed for the most painless death; right through his forehead. My thoughts flashed back to me under that bed. I had had a gun but I was terrified. My hands shook like that now.
"Please. I have two children! They don't have a mom. They need me!" A tear fell down my cheek. The loss I had felt when there was a bullet put through both my mom and my dad. And that wasn't even what the man had come to our house for. "Don't kill me. Please."
"Twenty One!" I heard One's footsteps and felt an arm go around me, turning me away from the man on the floor as a shot went off. One held me to his chest tightly.
"Are you okay? Shh. It's okay. You did good. Are you unhurt?" All I could do was sob into his shirt. I felt his other arm go around me and he rubbed my back. "Althea," he whispered gently. "Are you okay, Gaol?"
I let out a choked sob. "I-I couldn't kill him."
"Shh. He's gone now. Focus on me. Focus on me." I wondered how many times he had had to do this for other agents. "Look at me." He pulled my chin up and I stared at him. "Deep breaths." I breathed in and out. He smiled softly at me. "Good girl." He kissed my forehead. "Good job. Deep breaths. It's okay that you couldn't kill him. He's gone now though. Don't you worry about it."
"He had kids," I cried.
"What? No he didn't silly. We did that research already, remember?" I paused and buried my face back into his chest. After a second of silence, I whispered the words.
      "I remember everything." He stared at me in dismay, crouching and lifting me up. We walked out, his footsteps practically silent. "No no. Please," I whimpered. "The others can't see me like this."
      "They will if we stay in there." I heard a door open and recognized the closet as he set me down. I rubbed my eyes. "Do you want to talk about it?"
      I nodded, paused, and shook my head.
"That's okay. We don't need to talk right now about it. Just. Here. Calm down." He put a finger under my chin and kissed my forehead then sat down and set me gently in his lap. He held me quietly for a few minutes.
"Thank you, One," I whispered when my voice was evened out. "How often do you have to do this?"
"I did it for Three," he said gently. "The men often brush it off but I try to sit down and talk to them. Three has dealt with the other girls. This is the first mission in a while she hasn't been on." I gulped and he rubbed my back, leaning down and kissing my cheek. "My job is to make you feel a little more secure, Gaol, when all these memories come back."
"You make me feel safe."
"You make me feel happy, Althea." He whispered. Something broke inside of me. I stood up and turned away from him. "Tell me what's wrong," he begged.
"Everyone I get close to-"
"Dies?" He finished. I heard him stand and turned around to see his shadow, highlighted by the cracks in the door behind him, staring down at me. "I won't die on you, Gaol." The words sounded like a promise. "I swear it." He grabbed my chin lightly between his fingers, and ran his thumb along my lips. He pressed a kiss to my forehead gently.
        "How do you know?" My voice cracked. "You might. This is a ridiculous job; we could die at any moment, One."
        "I will not die," he whispered, cupping my cheek with his hand.
        My hand rested over his. "But you could."
        He sighed quietly and nodded, dropping his hand. We stood in silence and after a moment, he enveloped me in his arms again. Finally he let go.
        "Are you okay to go back out?"
       I nodded silently and he walked out. I followed and saw Ten at the door, looking around worriedly.
         "Ten. Twelve. You both did good. Let's get back and get some rest." His voice was back to his commanding, cold tone. I gulped and Ten looked at me.
        "Yes sir," they said together then Ten walked over to me.
       "Are you okay?"
       "No," I said quietly. She gave me a quick, reassuring hug. I sighed quietly and we were silent as we walked back to our hotel. I glanced at One, hoping to see some of that warmth from earlier. Instead, he just headed towards his room stiffly.
      "Twelve when you get into our room be quiet or I'll kill you." He shut the door behind him.