No. I scrambled up from the picnic table, and starting backing away, slowly shaking my head. It couldn't be. 

Kara and Tom were frowning at me, their brows wrinkled in concern. "Agent 5? What's wrong? Are you okay?" Tom looked at the phone, then back to me. 

The male voice from the phone spoke again. "Kara? What is it? Who's Agent 5?" 

Kara cleared her throat. "Sir, Agent 5 is the agent from Umbra Agency who accompanied us on this mission." She looked up at me. "But I don't know what's wrong."

My mind raced a thousand miles per hour. How is this possible? He escaped? Did that mean they all escaped? Suddenly I tripped on a branch that I had not seen, and fell to the ground with a yelp. I put my head in my hands and groaned. This was just not going very well. 

I looked up to see a hand stretched out in front of my. A smile ghosted across my face and I let Tom help me up. "Thanks." I turned to Kara. "And, um,  I'm fine, I- well, I don't know..."

The voice on the phone had gone silent. Kara took that as a sign that he was listening, and started explaining the situation about Jeremy, but when there was no response, she grew worried. "Sir? Jake? Are you there?"

Muffled voices sounded from the phone, and Tom and I moved back to the table, but I remained standing instead of sitting down. I still had no clue if I was imagining things or not. I shook my head, embarrassed. I had overreacted. The director could just have the same exact name, and sound exactly the same. I winced. Oh yes, just coincidental for sure. 

"Kara? Is that you?" Another voice sounded, and I could feel the blood draining from my face. Taylor. 

"Taylor? What are you doing on the phone?" Kara was frowning into the night, looking at the lone, beat-up car passing by the gas station. 

"Jake called us all in. I don't know why, though. He looked like he had seen a ghost."

Tom, who had I had just noticed was watching me very closely, piped up. "Huh, that's what Agent 5 looks like right now." 

"Who's Agent 5?" Taylor sounded like she was frowning. 

Kara sighed. "Honestly, does no one know? She's the agent who is collaborating on the mission. From the Umbra Agency?"

"Oh... okay. Well, here's Jake again. Bye." Taylor got off the phone. 

I remained away from the picnic table, trying to process everything that I was hearing. It just... couldn't be possible. It couldn't. My head started pounding, and I took a step away from the one bright, glaring, overhead light. 

Jake's voice sounded. "Kara, would you please hand the phone over to Agent 5, please? I would like to talk to her."

My head whipped towards the duo and my eyes snapped to the phone that was resting on the table. 

Kara motioned for me to come closer. "It's on speaker phone."

"Oh." Jake cleared his throat. "Agent 5, I want to ask you some questions." 

I came forward and tucked my shaking hands behind my back. "Of course. Go ahead." Through the phone, I heard several gasps, and then hushing. 

"How long have you been in the Agency?" 

"About nine years."

"Any family in the agency?"

I frowned at the question. "Yes... one brother and my father."

"And were you ever in a team?"

I gritted my teeth at the question. He had no right to ask me that question. "Yes."

"One more." I frowned again as he spoke; his voice sounded clogged with tears. "What is your name? Your real name?"

I froze. No one really knew my real name, except for a few select people. I never liked telling it to people, for they would say, "That's a boy name" or "What an interesting name". I, personally, liked my name. But it got to the point where I couldn't stand the comments any more, so I would introduce myself as Agent 5.

Tom nudged me, and I realized that I had been staring at the phone, and Jake was waiting for an answer. 

I cleared my throat. "Bentley," I said, my voice hoarse. "Bentley Waters." 

Beside me, Kara and Tom flinched, gaping at me. "My god..." Kara slapped her forehead. "Of course! Why didn't I see it before!" 

Tom stared at me, repeatedly mumbling "I'm so stupid," under his breath.

From the phone came noises that sounded like sobs. "Ben?" I heard someone ask. I gasped.

"M-Max?" Memories came flooding back to me, and my eyes welled tears that began to flow down my cheeks. 

It had been years, but it only seemed like yesterday I had received the news they were dead. Gone. Forever. The tears kept coming but I just sat there numbly. 

In a stupefied voice, he whispered through the phone, "Dad, didn't....tell you?"

"No," my voice sounded distant and cold in my ears. "He's the one who told me you guys were dead. He... we mourned together, Max." I could barely see anything through my blurry eyes. 

Max sounded confused as well. "He's the one who contacted us and said that you were dead." 

Kara exchanged a look with Tom, a skeptical look in their eyes. "Yeah, that's why we have a commemoration day for you on March 25 every year, because you're the one who they took to experiment on."

Tom's eyes widened and his brows shot up. "Wings!" He whispered at me. I swiped at my eyes with my dirty hand, and nodded slowly, but put a finger to my lips, telling him to keep quiet about it. 

Jake's voice sounded again, hesitatingly. "Ben... what did they do to you?" 

My vision tunneled and my breath came in short pants. I remembered the dark cell that we were in, and how they came for Taylor, but I stood in front of her and begged for them to take me instead. How I looked back for the last time and saw them all, huddled together, staring at me and sobbing. How they led me to the secret door in wall, and down to the bright room. How I screamed until I fainted, then screamed again.