FELIX

I had been training in the CIA for three years before I met Ethan, which seems crazy to me. Now, I can't imagine a life without him.

I was fifteen when we learned of each other's existence. He was, too. We were quite young, but by that time I was already inventing gadgets for the CIA. I had nothing better to do. Some of my top inventions were my watch that stored a flash drive, my ring that injected whoever came into contact with the diamond with anesthesia, and my cool stick-on tracker that was disguised as a scar.

I was proud of my inventions back then, so the day someone approached me about one of them not working, I was a little dumbfounded, to say the least. The guy marched right up to me at the gym one day after my afternoon jog. His face was red as he barked at me. "Aren't you the kid who made the scar tracker invention?"

I swallowed and took a step back. I was a little boy back then, and the wild look in his eyes was an anger I saw only in my father's eyes. I'm a lot better at confrontation now, but I wasn't good with it at 15.

I nodded uncomfortably. He immediately took another step toward me, my back pressing against a nearby wall. He yelled, then, and my hands trembled. "You are a goddamned idiot. The patch didn't work when I was out in the field, and I had to rush my partner to the hospital. If I had been two minutes late, she would've died."

I gulped. "The patch didn't work? I programmed it to-"

"Your programming was off, jackass." The guy groaned, his face almost purple. I thought he was going to explode in front of me. His hands were in fists and I wasn't prepared to get punched in the face. "Her blood was all over my hands, all over me. Imagine what it felt like to have the closest person to you's blood staining your skin."

I didn't want to imagine that. I didn't want to do anything but shrink into the floor. The walls were suffocating and the guy was making me sweat up a storm. I wanted him to stop screaming in my face. But, I didn't know how to communicate that.

"I'm sorry." My voice was quivering. Suddenly, I had wished my brother was nearby so that he could stand up for me, like he always did. "I really don't understand why my invention wouldn't work. Did it get damaged or something?"

"Damaged?" He growled at me, his eyes glowing with hatred. "No. No, it wasn't. You're about to be fucking damaged, though, when I kick the shit out of you."

"Wait..." My jaw dropped and then shut really quickly when he tilted his head. "Please don't. I'll fix it. I'll try to figure out what went wrong with it."

The guy obviously had displaced anger and hatred, but he was only getting worse. "Don't you see that you can't fix what has happened? My partner..."

"Hey!" The guy's head snapped when a new voice filled the air around us. I turned to look to the left as well, grateful to see the pinched face of a young Ethan Turner. His hair was a bit longer back then, wavy and a little in his face. His gray eyes were stormy with confusion, but even though he didn't understand what was going on, he still intervened. He must've seen that I was scared shitless. "What is going on?"

First off, the guy who had a problem with his tracker patch was at least 6'2". Ethan, not even close. The angry guy at least had 100 lbs on him as well, but Ethan didn't even look like he cared.

The man glared at Ethan as if he was a speck of dirt. "I wasn't talking to you, kid. Back off."

The guy turned back to me, and I raised my hands up to show him that I'm innocent. He still grabbed fistfuls of my shirt and looked as if he was going to seal my fate.

Ethan took a step forward and stared into the guy's soul. "Did I look like I was asking for an invitation? No. Now, tell me. What's going on?"

My tongue was tied, so I couldn't explain a damned thing. The guy gripping me hard answered. "Well, this kid almost got my partner killed."

"This kid?" Ethan gestured to me and chuckled. "How?"

"His invention failed when my partner needed it to work." He barks, his eyebrows narrowing. "Now, would you get the hell out of my face before I take my anger out on both of you?"

"Go ahead." Ethan spread his arms out like he was almost inviting him to sucker punch him in the stomach. "But, as soon as you lay a hand on me, you'll regret it."

The guy tilted his head. "Oh, really?"

"Yeah." I'll never forget the sincerity in Ethan's tone as he spoke to the guy. "Because agents get fired for being jackasses, especially to their own people."

Something flickered in the guy's eyes, and he let me go. He even brushed off the wrinkles in my shirt as he turned to Ethan and placed a fake smile on his lips. "I'm not being a jackass. I'm just angry with this kid for endangering my partner and me."

"You are being a jackass." Ethan fired back at him. "You just had him cornered against the wall with your hands on him."

The man turned to me and smirked. "I apologize."

I knew he wasn't being genuine in the slightest, but I nodded meekly.

Then, the guy walked away, only after shoving his way past Ethan.

Once he was out of sight, I was able to breathe again. My hands still trembled, and my heart still raced a million beats per second. Ethan walked up to me with his gray eyes softening. "Did you really screw up that badly?"

"No." I sighed, shrugging my shoulders. I was at a loss. There had been hundreds of missions where my tracker was used successfully. It must've been damaged during their mission for it to fail. I didn't have much confidence at 15, but the one thing I did believe in was my inventions. "I don't think so. I'll have to read his mission report."

And I was right to believe in them. After I looked up the guy's mission report, I discovered that the guy's partner submerged her tracker in water. I told them it wasn't waterproof, but apparently, they forgot. What happened to the woman was not my fault, and it was all cleared up.

Ethan simply nodded then.

"Thank you." I told him after a silent second passed by. "Really, thank you."

"No problem." A gentle smiled touched the corners of his lips. Then, he pivoted on his heel and started walking away.

I hesitated a moment, and then I did the very thing that started our friendship.

I chased after him, yelling, "Wait up!"

Why? Because I wanted to know more about him. I wanted to know why he was so brave and so kind. I wanted to know his story. I wanted to know what it was like to have a friend like him.

***

It's Monday morning, too early for me to be thinking straight. I only got two hours of sleep before getting a call that Ethan, Drake, and Vanessa have arrived in Virginia.

Ajax, Tony, and I make our way down our apartment building and over to the CIA field office. I numbly step into the familiar space of Jerome's office, and after seeing our teammates, I realize there's no use in thinking I have it bad.

Drake has deep bags etched under his tired blue eyes. His fists are bruised a little, his hair a mess. Ethan tries not to show his exhaustion, but the confidence he normally owns has been replaced with uncertainty. Vanessa somehow looks the palest of the group, and her long dress is wrinkly and dirty. She sits in the leather chair across from Jerome's desk, her arms folded over her chest and her eyes staring off into space.

When we are all gathered around, Jerome--who sits at his desk--starts talking. "So, the weapon of mass destruction has been locked away in a safe place, thanks to you all. Agencies we have partnered with thank you for your hard work and time spent on this mission. They will make their arrests soon, with the information you gathered from the Fitch's vehicle and from the faces you saw at the party. They will get their money back, so now it is out of our hands."

Something warm floods my veins as I smile. Jerome says, "I think it's safe to say that this mission was a success."

"It was." Ethan's normally smooth voice has a little drag in it as if he has to put more effort than normally to make it sound okay. "Good job, team. Felix, your inventions worked miracles. Ajax, your talents got us every piece of information needed. Without you, Tony, our team wouldn't have gotten the job done as fast. Drake, you were an amazing body guard, and Vanessa, you stepped up to the task with no experience. We all worked together to make this work. I'm proud of each one of you."

The smile remains on my lips as I nod in agreement. "Yeah. Good job, guys."

Jerome grins. "So, I need you all to fill out your mission reports."

Ajax, who is close to Jerome's desk and is leaning against the wall, groans. "Can't we do that in, like, four hours?"

"My boss wants the reports ASAP." Jerome affirms. "But, as soon as you finish them, you can all go home."

Jerome hesitates after his statement. "Well, we also have something else to sort out."

He glances at Vanessa. She's not even paying attention. In fact, I would bet money that she is sleeping with her eyes open.

"Vanessa," Jerome says, making her caramel eyes flicker up to his face. "How are you feeling? I heard the reason you all had to come home early was because of an attack."

Vanessa clears her throat and then sits upright in her chair. "I'm fine. I am just really tired."

"Well, I'm going to have to borrow your brain for a second more." Jerome replies gently. "I need to know if you plan on continuing training with my team."

I take a second to glance around the room. Ethan is staring at the floor, Drake is working his jaw and is staring at Jerome as if he could telepathically tell him to shut up, and Ajax is looking at Tony. I follow his gaze, noticing that Tony is moving over to where Vanessa sits.

"Of course, she is." Tony grips the back of her chair. She glances up at him, and he smiles down at her.

The ends of her lips curl up. "Yeah. I will continue training with them."

"Good." Jerome seems pleased as he leans forward in his desk chair. "Then, I have a task for you."

I hold my breath because I know that whatever is going to come off of Jerome's lips is going to upset at least one person in the room. He says, "You might not know this, Vanessa, but there are annual mental health assessments done on every CIA agent. We normally have someone random conduct the assessments, but I figured since you're a doctor, you might be able to do them."

I notice the small turn of Vanessa's head as she looks over at Ethan. He is peering back at her, and I see something pass in his gaze that makes my heart skips a beat.

Did something happen between them?

I suck in a breath as Vanessa says, "I don't know if that's a good idea. The team might not want me to get in their heads."

"Well, someone has to do it." Jerome responds, shrugging his shoulders. "Why not you?"

Drake, opinionated as ever, says, "She's an outsider, Jerome. Isn't it against the rules to have her conduct the assessments?"

"I'll worry about the technicalities." Jerome's eyebrows snap together as he glares at Drake. "Why? Would you rather a stranger get in your head?"

Drake clenches his jaw as he shuts his mouth.

I let out a breath and step forward. "I think it's a good idea. I don't really want to talk to a stranger."

"Me neither." Like always, my brother has my back. Ajax's raspy voice bounces off the walls of the room as he speaks. "Plus, Vanessa is more than qualified."

Jerome clasps his hands together. "Then, it's settled. Vanessa, will you be able to conduct the assessments during the afternoons?"

Vanessa nods. "I will."

"Good." Jerome replies, ending the conversation. "Let's get the reports done, and then you all can take the day off of work to rest up."

Tony hollers. "Woohoo, my bed has been calling me."

***

Everyone is in their beds, but I catch Ethan fumbling around in the darkness trying to get a glass of water.

I seize the opportunity. "Hey, E. How are you feeling?"

"Tired." He sighs and takes a sip of the glass he has filled. "And you?"

"Same." I say. "But, I have a question."

"Shoot." He replies, meeting my gaze in the dim light coming from the dawn that is breaking outside our windows.

"What happened between you and Vanessa?" I query, hoping he's too out of it to lie to me. "I could tell something changed."

Ethan shrugs his shoulders. "We kissed."

"Undercover?" I ask, recalling the video Tony, Ajax, and I watched from the van. We saw the way Ethan leaned forward and closed his eyes.

Ethan nods. "Yeah. And, in the hotel room."

My throat becomes dry as my heart tugs in two different directions--it doesn't know whether to lift or sink. "The hotel room?"

Ethan rubs the back of his neck with his free hand. "Yeah. I think Vanessa likes me. But, I don't like her."

"Okay." I stare at the sad look in his eyes. "Why not?"

"Because I can't." Is his simple response before he shifts his weight. "I'm going to go to bed. Good night, Felix."

"Good night." I say, staring at his back as he walks down the hallway and disappears into his bedroom.