For some reason, I'd assumed that the Gemini Clan would hold off on their attack. That they'd lure us into a false sense of security until our worries began to diminish, waiting until there was a sliver of vulnerability in our defenses to strike.
Only that didn't happen.
Once the news of Finn's betrayal spread, it was as though everyone within the Division was suddenly on edge. There were whispers everywhere – wondering whether he was the only traitor amongst the Division's ranks and, if one of the best could be lured in by the Gemini Clan, what was stopping other agents from jumping ship as well.
It didn't get any better when, later that night, Joe rounded up a small team of senior agents to scope out the underground hideaway. Situated in just the right spot, the hideaway was hidden behind too many trees for any camera to have a clear shot of it, and seeing as it was still within the grounds line, it was discovered that no alarm would sound if someone were to infiltrate the space.
Clearly Finn, or whoever had last used the space, had sought to cover their tracks. The hideaway was completely destroyed. Books which had once sat untouched on ancient shelves were knocked to the ground and torched, their ashes all that remained. The rest of the space had been ransacked, leaving a giant hole in the computer screen and significant physical damage to the hard drive, making it clear that the person responsible had made damn sure that there was nothing left over for us to find.
In the days that followed, Catherine essentially ordered the Division into lockdown. Everyone – whether they were senior agents or trainees – was made aware of what was going on. Security was tightened and, due to the assistance of S.I.C.O, experienced agents were transferred to our grounds each day.
And though the conversations about the weapon within our walls was kept relatively quiet, I had picked up enough to know that S.I.C.O had considered moving it before the Gemini Clan could get their hands on it. Whether it was transferred or kept as is, there were pros and cons, but in the end, the decision to keep the weapon where it was prevailed.
No one wanted to risk moving the weapon and, consequently, give the Gemini Clan an easier target.
Furthermore, outgoing assignments quickly transitioned into an oddity – kept on hold in the interest of safety, and with nearly every agent sticking close to the Division, it made for a restless environment. There were daily meetings held in the Grand Hall in which possible defensive strategies were plotted and mapped out for a wide possibility of attacks.
Sure, we had a plan. One in which everyone had a role, but even the best made plans had the potential for failure.
And suddenly, sooner than expected, the day of reckoning descended upon us.
It was a Monday morning, five days after Finn's disappearance, and alongside numerous other agents, I'd been in the Grand Hall when the alarms began to sound. The moment everyone had subconsciously been waiting for.
The senior agents jumped into action immediately, with the junior agents not far behind. They'd been out in the field before – had experienced the nature of real-world combat, and with their weapons at the ready, they all began to move to their assigned positions. The trainees however, including myself, were a little slower on the pick-up.
It didn't matter that we were all on light duty – helping secure the building and acting as a second line of defense, or that we'd attended lessons and learned from the best. Nothing could truly prepare us for the fight to come.
Nevertheless, once the hesitation began to fade and our fears were pushed aside, we abandoned the feeling of security the Grand Hall offered and got to work.
I took a detour however, since everyone but me, it seemed, had come prepared.
Climbing the stairs in a rush, I reached my room and pushed open the door in record time. I dropped to the floor just a few feet from the bed, reaching underneath until I found the gadgets Kira had given me to use for protection. There was a small pouch of smoke beads – which produced thick clouds of black smoke when set off, a pair of night vision goggles, two vials of healing solution, a bracelet that acted as a lock decoder, and a stun gun. The latter was capable of blasting an enemy backwards while a rush of electrical energy kept them incapacitated for a short period of time, and though its power terrified me slightly, having it strapped to my waist also gave me an extra layer of protection.
With my gaze drawn to the window as I stood, I froze momentarily. Down below, the grounds were filled with agents of the Gemini Clan, and while the numbers appeared to be tilted in our favour, the margin was small. This wasn't surprising. They were invading, and if they wanted to be successful, they'd need more than just a few agents.
My eyes quickly searched the chaos for Finn and Damon, wondering where they'd be positioned in the attack, but when I failed to locate them, a red alert went off in my head.
Of course.
They weren't out there because the fight was just a distraction. The real mission was to secure the weapon hidden within the depths of the building before making a quick getaway. My eyes grew wide at the startling realization. Finn knew these grounds like the back of his hand, and Damon had gotten into the building once before, so if they had figured out the exact spot the weapon was hidden, what was stopping them from going around our defenses to grab it and run?
There was a flicker of indecision as a plan began to form – one that strayed from the instructions I'd been given. It wasn't smart. It wasn't logical. It was dangerous, especially considering I didn't know exactly where the weapon was hidden in the first place.
But I had a guess, and in that moment, it was enough to ignite a fire in my chest and push me forward.
Since most of the action was being contained to the outer grounds, the halls were left relatively empty. Every person I passed was deep in their element – whether that was preparing for a fight or standing guard, and in their preoccupied state, no one thought to pay me a second glance.
Keeping my eyes forward, I didn't dare glance back, worried that if I did, the reality of the situation would consume me. That I was going against everyone I'd come to know here, essentially letting them all down, just to prove to myself that I could step up. That I could handle myself in the field and do what needed to be done in the name of protection.
I was forging my own way.
It was only when I rounded a corner to see Beckett fighting off not one, but two men, that my steps came to a staggering halt. I watched, frozen, as he landed a punch to the stomach of one man, only to turn around a send a round-house kick to the other's jaw. My eyes grew wide before flashing with recognition, noticing that both of his opponents had been there the night I'd been attacked.
One being the man who'd tried his best to follow me home.
There was a brief pang in my chest as I thought back to my old life, but the scene inside my mind was quickly cut off when I saw Beckett flinch backwards after a punch to the jaw.
A horrified gasp left my lips, watching as the other man readied himself for an attack of his own, and before I could stop myself, I screeched his name with horror. "Beckett!"
Beckett didn't glance my way, but at the sound of his name, something clicked inside of him. Before the second man could land another hard shot to his face, Beckett dodged his fist and retaliated. Two punches and a knee to the stomach had the man sprawling to the ground, and if that wasn't enough, Beckett bent over the man, gripping the material of his t-shirt to pull his body off the ground and swung his other fist aggressively into his nose, knocking him unconscious.
Without missing a beat, one of Beckett's legs swung backwards to trip his other opponent up. In the sequence of targeted attacks that followed – a nudge, a few kicks, and two square punches to the face, it was evident that Beckett had the upper hand.
When the threat had been neutralized, I couldn't stop myself from moving towards Beckett, closing the distance between us. "Are you okay?" I asked, my eyes scanning his features with worry.
His bottom lip was split and the hit he'd taken to the jaw would surely leave a mark, but other than looking a bit out of sorts, he seemed okay. "I'm fine, Aspen," he confirmed, "but I need to get back out there."
He was right, but as he went to step away, I stopped him. Pushing myself up on my tiptoes, I brushed my lips against his. I tried to be gentle as I felt him freeze at the contact, but even the smallest amount of pressure caused him to hiss, so I pulled back.
"Sorry." There was a brief flash of admiration in his eyes, though it was mixed with shock, and if I didn't have my mind set on putting an end to the chaos we were currently in, I would've brought his head back down to kiss him again. But I knew better. "I'll see you later."
My words were a promise, one that meant I had faith we'd both make it out of this insanity, and his lips pulled upwards in a genuine smile. "Go," he said, "I've got this handled."
An ounce of guilt shot through me, knowing that he believed I was heading to safety when he was actually pushing me towards danger. And while I felt the truth crawling to the surface, I couldn't tell him my plan – he'd only try and stop me.
Instead I nodded, flashing him a fake grin before I turned on my heel and made my getaway.
----------
Brought back to the events of the last alarm when I'd shadowed Catherine through unknown corridors, I tried to retrace our steps. There was something odd about that dead-end hallway we'd ended up in, and I had a sneaking suspicion that when Catherine had up and disappeared, she'd merely slipped into a hidden passageway unnoticed.
And if I could find that passageway, I was willing to bet it'd lead to the weapon's hiding spot.
The guards along the way however, posed a problem. They were stationed in groups to stop Gemini agents from infiltrating deep into the building, but they'd also been ordered to keep out any wandering agents from our side as well. Just to be safe.
Standing tall and acting as though I belonged, I made a split-second decision to use who I was as an advantage. After all, I wasn't the threat they needed to be concerned about.
"Catherine wants to know if there's been any hint of movement," I'd say to the guards, not above dropping her name to suit my needs. Stopping to check with each security group I passed, I waited as they explained that everything was clear. Nobody had been down here yet. After each encounter, I'd nod and thank them for their cooperation before moving on, getting closer to the dead-end hallway every minute.
When I reached the last group of guards, I knew that moving passed them would cause a spark of interest. What was I doing? Where did I think I was going? Why wasn't I out helping the other trainees?
I wasn't naïve enough to think they'd not been told about the weapon they were guarding – that they were the absolute last physical line of defense, but I wasn't convinced that, if there was a passageway hidden around the corner, they'd know how to get to it. So, I just had to find it before they caught me.
One of the guards tilted his head, his gaze narrowing after I'd gone through my spiel and failed to leave. "Aspen, shouldn't you be reporting back to Catherine?"
My palms began to sweat, wondering what would happen if this didn't work. "I just have to check..." I trailed off, pointing around the corner as I slipped passed them and around the corner.
There had to be something here.
Behind me, the uproar was immediate. My steps quickened as a result, and I didn't stop until my hands hit the walls of the dead-end hallway. I was surrounded with nowhere to go.
"Aspen! Hey," one guard yelled forcefully, anger shadowing his words. "Stop, now!"
"Shit," I winced, looking over my shoulder to see that while some of the guards had stayed back, three were hot on my heels. Turning away from them, I tapped desperately and repeatedly on the wall in different spots, hoping that some kind of secret passage would appear.
But I had no such luck.
Thinking quickly, my fingers skimmed my belt for the smoke beads, knowing they'd be the most effective. Grabbing a handful, I threw them to the ground and in an instant, a wall of hazy black smoke filled the hall.
The abrupt loss of their surroundings caused surprised gasps to fill the air.
Ducking to the ground, I held my breath, pressing my hands against the wall to guide myself. I knew that even if I circled back and escaped, I would face the rest of the guards, so the only way I could get out was by moving forward.
In hopes that I'd bought myself a few seconds while the guards were discombobulated, I continued my search for some kind of passageway. It was difficult, considering I couldn't distinguish which direction I was facing or what exactly I was doing, but when a stone beneath my palm suddenly gave way, I was too shocked for my accomplishment to sink in.
Tumbling forwards as a section of the wall swung open, my knees were the first to hit the ground, followed by my hands. Barely a second passed before I heard the low thud of the entrance closing behind me, keeping out the smoke but immersing me in total darkness.
As I stumbled to my feet, I realized that besides the echoes of my movements, the place was silent – the stone blocking out all remnants of chaos beyond the tunnel walls.
I patted my belt, feeling around for the night vision goggles I was thankful to have in that moment. Unclipping them, I pulled them on and breathed easier as my surroundings came into view, albeit tinged green though the lenses.
Turning back to the wall I'd fallen through, there was no evidence of a door. Just like the hall on the other side, it appeared to be nothing more than a dead-end. But now I knew that there was a door, a passageway, that could only be opened by a fair few who knew what they were looking for.
The only problem was that I had no idea what I'd done to gain access, and no clue if there was another way out. But those thoughts took an immediate back seat to my goal – to find the weapon that was surely hidden somewhere along this corridor, and guarantee its protection.
Moving slowly through the passageway, my eyes never stopped moving. I scanned every crevice in the stones, willing a clue to appear yet coming up with nothing. It wasn't until I hit a small alcove, which gave way to a downwards staircase, that I felt the small burst of optimism sink in.
This had to be it.
Moving deeper underground, I kept my hands firm on the stone walls – a necessary precaution as I felt the moisture in the air increasing. The steps were slippery beneath my boots, and one wrong move would no doubt send me sprawling down who knows how many steps.
It was minutes later when the stairs finally came to an end, giving way to a small circular room. There were six beaten down iron doors that surrounded the exterior, the spaces they blocked looking as though they'd been used to house prisoners back in the day, though I didn't pay them much attention.
My gaze was drawn to the opposite side of the room, between two of the doors, where a small dagger rested atop a protruded stone.
Disbelief coursed through me. This was what the Gemini Clan were searching for – the reason behind their attack? I'd envisioned a nuclear grenade or a scientifically enhanced gun, but this? This dagger looked like one you'd find in a medieval video game, carved extensively and stretching no longer than my forearm.
Suddenly I found myself moving across the room, wanting to know what about this weapon warranted the amount of secrecy and precaution that it'd brought up.
However, as I reached out to touch it, I froze right before my hand came in contact with the carved steel. Rooted to the spot, I heard footsteps echoing down the stairs I'd just descended from. When they slowed however, I gulped, turning my head to meet the gaze of the intruder.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you."
a/n: *ends on that cliffhanger* AND just so you guys are kept aware, the next chapter will be the last chapter (though there is an epilogue that will follow). This story is coming to an end, and after having this idea years ago and not having the confidence to start it until last year, I'm so happy that it's coming full circle. I've loved jumping out of my comfort zone with this story, but that being said, I can't wait to get back to writing romance! (Also... who's here for that Beckett and Aspen kiss?!)
Also, last week I announced that Defending Parker was being published as an audiobook, but NOW IT'S OUT! You can purchase it on iTunes, Audible, Kobo, and most places audiobooks are available! (Links on my profile)