The Agents

Chapter Twenty-four

I collapsed onto the couch, letting out a relaxed sigh and throwing my feet up next to me. Taylor collapsed on the other side of the couch, throwing her feet over mine.

"You guys act like you actually did something today," Drake said. He and Jaxon chuckled, sitting in the arm chairs on either side of the couch.

"Ha-ha. Very funny," I replied sarcastically, making us all laugh. I closed my eyes as we fell silent, lost in our thoughts.

After a couple minutes of comfortable silence, Taylor softly asked, "Jaycee?"

"Yeah?" I replied sleepily.

"Do you really think those kids will be ready to face Trujillo?"

"What do you mean?" I asked in confusion.

Jaxon answered, "Jay, those kids wouldn't stand a chance. They were too scared to even throw a punch today!"

"They didn't want to hurt each other," I answered, even though I knew exactly what they meant.

"You said it yourself, they practice how they are going to act in a real fight," Drake said.

"I know! Okay?" I exclaimed. "If they can't even spar against each other, then what chance do they have against Trujillo and Los Pecadores?"

"They have no chance," Jaxon stated quietly.

"Are you really going to send those kids out there to be killed?" Taylor asked.

I took a minute to respond, and when I did, I quietly said, "It was never my intention to."

"Then why did you spend so much time training them?"

I sighed, "I trained them because when I failed, Trujillo was going to go after them and I didn't want them to be unprepared."

"When you fail? How could you fail? We've taken him down before. The four of us can do anything!" Drake said, not understanding. I didn't reply, and Drake and Taylor looked confused at my expression. They were going to have to figure it out on their own, because I was never going to say it.

After a couple minutes, Jaxon looked at the wall and said sadly, "She was going to fail because we weren't going to do it together. She wasn't going to call us in. She was going to go in alone."

"What's he talking about Jaycee?" Taylor asked, confused.

"You would never go against Trujillo alone. Tell him you were going to call us in," Drake said, desperately wanting to believe the words he was saying.

"If I did, then I'd be lying," I said quietly. Refusing to look up at them, I stared at the ground, knowing their expressions were ones of betrayal.

"No!" Taylor exclaimed. "That would have been a suicide mission!"

"Way to have faith," I said sarcastically.

"For once in your life, could you please take this seriously!" Taylor yelled.

"Fine, I'll be serious. I was alone. You had all left me here. Why would I call you when you obviously didn't want to have anything to do with this life anymore?" I asked, anger seeping into my voice at Taylor's words.

"Jaycee," Drake started, guilt all over his face.

"Look, you don't have to worry about it anymore, okay? The plan changed," I said.

"You aren't going alone anymore?" Taylor asked, needing to be reassured.

"The plan changed," I said simply. They all took that as a yes to Taylor's question, calming them down.

We fell back into silence, slight tension still lingering in the air.

----------

I slid the last piercing into place in my ear and quietly closed my locker. Cringing as the hinges squeaked, I looked over to see all the girls were still asleep. I silently let out the breath I had been holding before sneaking out of the dorm and into the main room.

Walking over to the wall of pictures, I looked over them again, smiling at all the memories. There were certainly a lot of them. Then, I kneeled down and set my bag in front of me. I pulled out a couple different envelops and boxes and set them in front of me. Once I was sure I hadn't forgotten any, I walked to the stairwell door, pausing with my hand on the handle.

I looked around the room again, memories playing out before me. There was Drake tackling me in a hug as I came through the stairwell, returning from my vacation, Taylor and I painting our nails and talking as we watched Drake and Jaxon sparring on the mats. Jaxon and I sitting on a blanket in the corner on our dinner date. Wallace and Crystal making us breakfast. Coming out on Christmas morning and finding a little bull dog puppy sitting under our tree.

I smiled even as tears rolled down my cheeks. I was going to miss this place. Before I lost my nerve, I said one last silent good bye. Then, I walked away.

A/N: I'm sorry it's so short of a chapter, but pretty crazy right? Hope you enjoy :)