Sorry for the late update! But to make it up I have a long chapter. :)
"Ah! They even have pasta, how delightful!"
I woke up to the most cheerful, sweet and melodious British accent ever. It belonged to none other than my absolute favorite, my second mother-like figure, Catherine Hale. She appeared to be surveying the food.
I stretched, sleepy, and stifled a yawn as I trudged into the bathroom. Mike wasn't in bed, and I assumed he was outside too, probably eating breakfast and talking to Catherine. It was eight in the morning, and the sun was brighter than ever outside.
"Benjamin!" Catherine smiled as I exited the bathroom. "It's absolutely wonderful to see you again, dear. Of course, I know you're a wanted man back in the States, but I'm hoping you're enjoying the comforts of this Mi6 safehouse."
"Oh, yeah," I replied. "Totally." I walked over to the kitchen, where Catherine had a plastic container full of fresh-baked chocolate chip and blueberry muffins.
Erica sat at a high bar stool, blueberry muffin in hand. She looked somewhat relaxed that Catherine was here, and I spotted Jawa and Mike both eating chocolate chip muffins. I took a chocolate one and slid into a bar stool beside Erica.
"So, I assume getting here was no problem," Catherine spoke, eyeing Erica. "Right?"
"Mi6 was empty," Erica replied. "We needed Zoe to get into the computers, and they had some sort of fail-safe that made the coordinates and the passcodes disappear in 20 seconds and lock for the next 24 hours," she explained. "Zoe hacked them and Ben memorized them."
Catherine smiled. "Yeah, Mi6 cares about security. But I'm glad you were able to get into the British Embassy and into Mi6."
Jawa nodded. "But this place is crazy awesome. Much better than our dorms."
"It somewhat reminds me of Aquarius," I commented, and Erica met my gaze before giving me a small smile.
"We need to have you five staying out of sight," Catherine said, her tone growing serious. I spotted Zoe digging through the pantry, searching for other foods, presumably. "If anyone spots you five, we're screwed."
I was struck by a sudden question. "Hold on, what if some CIA official finds out we're in the UK?"
Catherine paused. "This is a top-secret location. Did you bring anything from the US?"
Everyone shook their heads. "No," Erica replied. "Nothing but passports."
"Okay," Catherine said. "That shouldn't be a problem. I don't think the CIA can track you. Erica, do Cyrus and Alexander know that you guys are here?"
Mike frowned. "That's a good question. Erica, do your dad and grandpa know?"
I looked to my best friend, whose icy blue eyes had slightly faded, like she was upset. "No," Erica admitted. "Both Dad and Grandpa are mad at Ben."
"Oh," I sighed.
Catherine sighed as well. "Well, if Cyrus and Alexander are not on our side, that could be a problem. I don't think we have any source in the States, then."
That's when the biggest smile spread across Jawa's face. In fact, it attracted the attention of not only me, but also Erica, Mike, Zoe, and even Catherine. "Actually," Jawa spoke, "I know someone else who may be able to help us."
XXX
"Yo!" Chip yelled across the phone. "What's up?"
"Hey, Chip!" Mike waved with a friendly smile. I waved too, and Erica acknowledged his presence with a small nod.
Catherine smiled, like this was the best day ever. "Now, Chip, you need to tell us the current status of your Spy School."
Chip was sitting in some sort of conference room, in a spinning chair by a long glass table. There wasn't anyone else in the room, which explained why Chip's voice was the only one. I assumed all the students were moved to the CIA headquarters for temporary stay. "Uh..." he dragged, "it's kinda chaotic here. There are a bunch of CIA dudes scanning the place and all that."
"What about Alexander? Or Cyrus?" Zoe asked. "What are they doing?"
Chip bit his lower lip. "Oh, yeah, about them. So they kinda found out Erica didn't come back with Ben, and Cyrus thinks you all are traitors and have gone rogue from the CIA."
"I thought so," Catherine and Erica simultaneously spoke, Catherine's voice somewhat flat and Erica's somewhat disappointed, like she'd been hoping her family would be on her side.
I frowned, realizing something. "So Chip's our only connection back there?"
"Hey," Chip said, "I believe you didn't blow the school up, dude. I know. I'm trying to act super mad at you in front of Erica's family, but if you need intel I'm here. And... I have to go because Alexander's coming and he'll probably kill me if he catches me talking to you guys so yeah bye, I guess?" Then he hung up just as we heard the distant noise of a door opening.
Zoe appeared amused, which mirrored most of our reactions. "Chip's actually being put to use."
"I'm surprised he has the brains for this," Mike added. "Oh well. What do we do now, Catherine?"
She shrugged. "I guess at this point you kids just have to lay low and not go out anywhere until your name's clear, Benjamin."
"But how will my name be clear?" I asked. "Cyrus and Alexander also believe I'm a traitor, and they're not putting up an act. That's kind of obvious. How will we convince everyone I didn't blow up the school and that I'm not a wanted terrorist?"
Erica threw away her muffin liner. "I guess we have to find the perpetrators first before we can clear your name."
"Who could have done it though?" Jawa wondered aloud. "Like, some evil dudes like SPYDER?"
"It can't be SPYDER, can it?" Zoe asked, crossing her legs at her ankles as she eyed me. "That's not possible. It has to be someone else, right?"
Erica paced the kitchen, her socks sliding against the wooden floor. "That's what I'm unsure of," she sighed. "I don't have any intel on whoever did this."
"Erica, sweetheart, for now you have to lie low," Catherine advised. "Just... think of it as an unsupervised vacation inside these four walls, okay?"
Mike grinned. "Fine by me," he replied. "They have a huge couch, and a tv. I'm going to watch some tv." He bounded toward the couch, muffin in hand.
I smiled, relieved that for once, I could finally just relax and not worry about dying. My friends appeared to think the opposite, though, because they were all hyped up for a mission.
"I'll have to leave now, as I have some work to do," Catherine informed us. "But I may stop by in the evening. Everyone, stay safe, and don't hesitate to reach me with the Mi6 phone if you find yourself in trouble."
Everyone nodded their heads, and Catherine gave us a cheerful smile before heading to the door. I focused my attention on the others. Mike and Jawa were flipping through Netflix, Zoe had gone to shower, and Erica was standing right behind me.
"Everything okay?" she asked me.
"I guess," I replied. "I mean, besides the fact that I've been framed for blowing up our school and we've flown halfway across the world to stay lying low. Yeah, I'm okay."
Erica frowned for a moment, but this time I noticed something different in her. She wasn't merely confused at my emotional issues, she looked like she felt what I was going through.
"Come on," she said, motioning for me to sit on a barstool, and I did, sitting across from her at the island in the kitchen. "I'm sorry you should be going through this. You really shouldn't."
"At this point it doesn't look like there's anything I can do about it," I sighed. "I guess this is what happens when you overthrow an evil organization."
Erica was silent at the statement, because we both knew she didn't have an answer for that. She probably never would. "I know," she replied. "But you were the one who chose this life."
"Actually, I didn't," I reminded her. "Your dad showed up in my living room."
"You're missing the point," Erica sighed. "Look, I know you hate going on missions, but just take a few moments to think about our previous missions. Not every kid on this planet is lucky enough to do what you've been doing."
"No kid is lucky enough to almost die a billion times," I muttered under my breath, but Erica had a point.
"I just want you to know that you're an amazing mission partner and friend," she said, and for a moment I thought I saw a smile across her face. "And I want to tell you that-" she couldn't finish her sentence, because we were interrupted by a loud ringing sound.
"What was that?" Mike hollered across the alarm. "What's going on?"
Erica didn't reply. She promptly rushed over to the screen mounted on the wall which displayed the security feed. "The safehouse has been breached. Someone knows we're here."
"Oh, great," Jawa muttered. "Well, what do we do now?"
Mike got off the couch, pausing whatever he and Jawa had started watching. "Someone's trying to get to us?"
"We need to evacuate, and fast," Erica commanded. "Yesterday night I did a scan of the safehouse. There are some hidden exit routes. We need to get the heck out of here."
Oh, great, I thought. Just when I thought it'd all be calm for once.
Have a great day! I hope you have an amazing day/night!!!