The Thing About Spies - II [Humanized] Fic

Drabble #1.1 - Introduction

"Uhhh.. turn right at the- oh. Oh, crap, I'm lost."

Lightbulb was a seventeen year old girl who had just been recruited to a spy organization.

And now she was lost.

"Oh geez... uh... do I have a... no. No GPS, no map either. And I forgot where I even came from," Lightbulb mused to herself. She was stuck on the street with nothing but the clothes on her back.

No use in walking around a little bit, she thought to herself, but I may as well.

She wandered on, kicking loose stones and looking at the places she passed by. She went passed a bunch of other kids, some older than her, some way younger. None of them payed her any mind.

Not that she cared.

Nope. Definitely didn't.

Maybe I should just give up and go home, she thought. At least, that way, I can have some sort of excuse, and if I'm lucky, Mom won't kill me. Lost in thought, she didn't notice that there was a girl she hadn't seen before, standing by the lamp pole. She had long and wavy black hair, which was dyed blond near the tips. She had on a set of worn out jeans and a T-Shirt, but, for some reason, it didn't look half bad on her. She was talking into her phone, barely paying attention to anything else it seemed.

But she had that look about her - like she knew what she was doing, and for some strange reason, Lightbulb felt compelled to talk to her.

So, she approached her. She tapped her on the shoulder, causing the girl to turn around abruptly, as though startled.

"Er... uh..." Lightbulb suddenly regretted her decision. Not to mention that she never did do well around pretty girls.

"Hold on, hon - yes, can I help you?" The girl put down her phone and looked her up and down. Her voice sounded rather familiar, but Lightbulb couldn't put her finger on it.

"Oh, er, yes. I was gonna ask if you... by any chance... knew how to get to Flower Alley? I... uh... have some.. stuff! Yeah, stuff to do there, stuff to do..." She inwardly cringed at how awkward she sounded. The girl, who had previously looked annoyed, now looked incredibly shocked.

"What's wrong?" Lightbulb asked, feeling a bit worried. Maybe the girl had no idea and Lightbulb was actually far, far away from where she wanted to go.

"Uh, no, nothing's wrong." The girl put her phone back to her ear, saying, "I'll call you back, sweetie." She put it in her pants pocket. "Follow me," she called over her shoulder, as she walked down the dimly lit streets. Lightbulb followed, ever eager.

The girl led her down the street, which ended at the crossroads station. At the end stood a dark and closed down subway station, a plank of wood nailed to the top Closed Permanently.

"I-Is t-this the r-right place?" Lightbulb was shivering, despite of herself. She internally kicked herself. This is what I get for not getting a jacket, she thought bitterly. Some spy I'll be.

"You bet, kiddo," the girl kicked the door open; it must have been very weak to be able to opened with a simple kick. "There's your answer."

"M-My answer?" Lightbulb asked incredulously. "Did you even take me to the right place?"

"Flower Alley, right?" The girl smiled broadly. "This is it."

"Flower Alley is a subway station?" She squinted into the shadowy area. The tunnel was long and seemingly never-ending.

"Yeah, didn't you hear?" The girl tapped her foot impatiently. Lightbulb realized with embarrassment that the girl was getting restless and probably wanted to leave soon. "Thank you," she said, patting the girl on the shoulder. "It means so much that you're willing to help a lost duck like me!"

"Aw, it's no problem at all," the girl smiled at her. "Happy to help. Now if you excuse me," she continued, taking out her phone. "I have a girlfriend to talk to." The girl walked away from Lightbulb, strolling back the way she came.

Lightbulb waved goodbye, then stepped into the half-opened double doors. If she was cold before, that certainly didn't compare to how she felt now. She rubbed her arms, trying to keep warm.

Oh, how smart of her.

No flashlight.

Grumbling at her own stupidity, she walked on, hoping that the half-lit lamps would give her enough seeing ability to not get eaten by any underground hedgehogs.

Looking around told her everything she needed to know. A, it was dark enough for someone to knock her over the head and leave her for dead (and maybe to be eaten by underground hedgehogs), B, an abandoned underground subway station (mostly because of the train that was turned on its side), C, probably not the best place to be in at night, or D, that girl probably tricked her and lured her in like a lamb to slaughter.

D and B seemed the most plausible.

How much longer is this gonna continue, anyway?  Lightbulb mused. I'm supposed to meet at the end of the alleyway. But this doesn't even count as an alleyway. If it does, my name is Kiran.

Well. Not Kiran. That wasn't her name, 'least not anymore.

She decided to look around as she walked, taking in the view. Not that there was much to look at.

The place was dimly lit and smelled of mildew, and seemed to go on endlessly. Above her were lamplights that were broken, each either smashed or broken in some way or another. Paying more attention to the lamps, she could see some dead birds and bugs floating around in it. She squinted hard at it. Were they dead or were they just playing dead? Maybe she should play dead until someone found here. Don't be a dull lightbulb, she told herself. There's no one here to look for you. And there's probably no cell service so if you get lost down here you're probably dead as is.

Suddenly, her foot caught in something. Flailing her arms to catch herself, she tripped over her own two feet and slammed into the wall.

Of course...

At least she was here, and faster than she anticipated. Sure, it took a bit of being clumsy, but still...

"Hey, blondie, are you okay?"

She looked up and, oh god...

It was that girl? What was she doing down here?