Chapter Nine

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I bowed my head as my eyes became blurry and I fought not to flinch. "I... Jake, it's hard to explain..." My voice cracked and I looked at my hands, at the scars from different fights from over the years that lined them, each telling a different story, each with a different ending. My hands began to shake and I tucked them behind my back, frowning. Why was I feeling all this emotion, after all this time? 

"Ben." His voice sounded again, and my heart broke. All these years, I'd thought that they'd died. I threw myself into missions, trying to forget everything. And all this time, all this time, they'd been right there. How many times had I passed through and not noticed that my team was alive?

"I'm sorry, Jake. It's just... I can't." I averted my gaze from Kara and Tom, embarrassed. 

"You know what? We're coming to you. Stay right where you are babe." I gasped and a smile ghosted my face as another familiar voice sounded, the memories fading away.

"Lydia? Is that you?"

Sobs came through the phone. "Hey, Ben. Miss me much? Oooh, wait no, I have a better one: did you cry at my funeral?" 

I threw my head back and laughed a real laugh for what felt like the first time in a long time. "Of course I did, idiot! I thought you were dead! But now I see that that's not the case." 

"Ben, we're getting you guys tickets for the next flight back to Riversphire, and our Agency. There's a lot we need to talk about. And seeing that Jeremy's not there, you can't continue the mission anyway." I frowned as Max spoke and Kara raised an eyebrow at me, smirking. I narrowed my eyes at her. 

I sighed. "Max, you don't know how much I want to see you all again. I would fly there right now, if I could." I paused and took a deep breath. "But I can't." 

Silence came from all around me. "What to do you mean we can't go back?" Tom looked at me, shocked. 

"Tom, you don't understand how important this mission is. We've been trying to take these guys down for years." I looked down to the ground guiltily. "I'm sorry." 

"What, no- Agent 5, come on." Kara glared at me. "Don't you want to see your friends after all these years? What is wrong with you?!"

I glared right back at her. "Kara, you have to understand. I do want to see them, so bad it physically hurts. But I can't. I have a mission, and missions come first." I looked at the phone lying on the table, and swallowed. "I have to complete the mission." 

The silence pressed down on me until I just couldn't take it anymore. I swiveled around and headed back to where we parked the motorcycles, ignoring Tom's calls to come back. 

Getting on my bike, I scowled into the night before turning the key in the engine. I wanted to see my friends so bad, that the urge to fly there right now was overwhelming. But I couldn't. I had to finish my mission first- I had to get my revenge. 

I pulled out of the gas station, not caring that I'd left Kara and Tom behind. I'd already told them where the safe house was that we were going to stay at. 

I had only driven for a few minutes when I saw flashing lights with sirens up ahead, and slowed. Two police cars were parked on the side of the road, with the cops standing outside the cars. I frowned as I saw them glance at me, then turn fully so that they were looking directly at me. 

I tilted my head as I watched them. Something felt off. Their uniforms didn't even look like uniforms, for starters. I narrowed my eyes at them, then felt my holster to make sure my gun was there. It was. 

The first one pointed towards me, then shouted to his companion to be heard over the sounds of the sirens. "It's her!" 

My frown deepened. What? 

The second police officer -who I was beginning to think wasn't one at all- reached into his car and pulled something out. Aiming at me, he released his arm, throwing the object through the air and towards me.

I only had time to think Oh hell no, not today, before the object reached me, and my eyes widened as I realized what it was, and my vision became flooded with the image of fire, the stars, then darkness.

---

Everything hurt. I couldn't hear anything. I groaned and tried to sit up, but found that it hurt too much to move. My right rib cage felt like it was on fire, and I was pretty sure that it was broken. I blinked several time, but the blurriness just wouldn't seem to go away. Squinting, I made out  through the smoke that I had landed about fifty feet from the side of the road, and a huge rock that rested beside me would explain why my rib cage felt broken. 

Seeing objects move in the distance, I made out Kara and Tom walking around where my bike was. I tried to sit up to get their attention, but the pain overwhelmed me, and I fell back down to the ground with a loud groan. 

Kara's head snapped towards me, and she motioned for Tom to follow her. Once she was standing in front of me, suit covered in dirt and dust, did she kneel down and begin to say something. 

I shook my head a few times, then whimpered as my head pounded back with the force of a sledgehammer. Kara seemed to get the point, and gestured for Tom to come around to the other side of me. She counted to three with her fingers, then the two of them hoisted me up in the air, my body going limp between them. 

Tom then shifted so that he could get a better grip on me, effectively elbowing me in my right rib cage. I let out a blood curdling scream, then let my head drop back as darkness crowded my vision once more.

---

I opened my eyes slowly, then winced as I felt pressure on my rib cage. Confused, I looked up hazily to see a white ceiling glaring back down at me. Turning my head to the side, my brows furrowed as I saw a small window, with the sunrise clouds peaking out. Clouds. Clouds. My eyes widened. No. I couldn't be on a plane. My heart rate sped up, and I heard distantly a monitor beeping quickly. I tried to sit up, but then noticed my arms tied to the bed I was laying on with metal cuffs. Sweat broke out on my forehead as I began to panic. They'd found me. They had me again. I squeezed my eyes shut as a few traitorous tears slipped through my eyelids. I didn't want to be experimented on again. Please

A door at the other end of the room opened, and I whispered the word aloud. "Please," I croaked, my voice hoarse. A woman in a white lab coat made her way towards me, and I began to thrash around in my constraints. 

"No! You can't! No more!" I sobbed as I tried to release myself, suddenly feeling like I was fifteen again, and the woman began to shout and rushed towards me. 

More figures hurried into the room, and my body sagged as I noticed Kara and Tom among them. I couldn't believe it. They'd betrayed me. "Traitors!" I screamed at them, trying to get out of the strong grips of the other people. 

Kara and Tom stayed near the door, watching me struggle. I sobbed harder. 

Their confused expressions staring at me were the last thing I saw before the woman jabbed a needle into my arm, and my vision went dark. Again.




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