The Good, the Bad, and the Boy Band?

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Adrienne's POV

I stiffened as I heard footsteps enter my room. I slowly closed my eyes and pretended to sleep.

"I know your awake Rienne." Gwen sighed and sat down on the edge of my bed.

"Ugh." I groaned and sat up.

Gwen smiled. "Rod may have said your acting skills are getting better but I think you've got a while to go." I gave a small laugh and clasped my hands together.

"El used to tell me that all the time."

Gwen managed a smile. "She also used to say you were too hard headed."

This time I actually laughed. Gwen joined me but the mood turned sour quickly.

"Give Eve a chance." Gwen pleaded.

"What?! Wait, did Rod send you here?" I demanded. Gwen flinched.

"No...I...I just know how much you miss El as your partner and as your best friend, but she's gone. And if you keep living in her shadow it's never going to help you. It will only bring you down. Eve's not so bad, she just needs...a little work. She'll come around." I looked Gwen in the eyes and softened my gaze.

"You're right. I can't keep living in her shadow. That's why--" I lifted my chin defiantly. "That's why I'm going to bring her back."

The silence that followed was deafening. Gwen's jaw dropped and she stared at me, shock etched on her face.

"Bu...you can't...it's not...WHAT?!"

"I've made up my mind. I'm going to find El and bring her back."

Gwen bit her lip, hesitating. She finally spoke up. "I'm not going to rat you out...that would be bad for our team. I'm also not going to try to stop you...that would be bad for the team too. But I am coming with you."

"Uh-uh. No way. Sorry Gwen, but I can't let you. It's my decision, my problem. If anything happens I can't let you take the blame. That's why you're going to go back to bed and not say a word to anybody about this conversation. It never happened." I gritted my teeth.

"Sorry Rienne. Either I go or you don't go. Actually, this is something for the team. We could use their help." Gwen refused to back down. No matter how hard I pushed, she refused to let me do it any other way.

I slammed my hands down on my sheets in frustration. I curled my fists in a ball and, sighing, I opened them.

"Fine. We'll do it your way."

_______________________

"Okay, Ian. I need the file on Eleanor. Gwen, get me 3 one-way tickets to London ay-sap. Vi, I need the over-night bags fully stocked and ready to go, and our passports." I jogged into our teams' command center calling orders to my team. They didn't hesitate, getting me what I asked for. Ian was first, slapping down a yellow Manila folder marked 'Retired--Classified. EJ-C.'

I flipped it open and pulled out a stack of papers. The top one read:

NAME: ELEANOR JOHNSTON

LEVEL: 49

STATUS: RETIRED

NEW IDENTITY: ELEANOR CALDER

The bottom of the paper caught my eye. In big red print, stamped onto the paper read,

CAUTION: EXTREMELY DANGEROUS

I smiled. That was far from the truth. I skimmed through the file, highlighting the important segments.