Agent X

xx| 𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚃𝚠𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚢-𝙴𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 |xx

If I hadn't been so tired, I probably would have created a hole in the carpet from pacing in my room, waiting for the Team to arrive for the briefing over the specifics of the mission. Instead, I was sprawled on my bed. I needed all the rest I could get before this big mission. The others had the entire day to sleep, while I was stuck in my room, forced to navigate the many complexities that arise when trying to develop a solid mission plan.

Fortunately, I finished the plans around one in the afternoon. I set the briefing time for four o'clock to give myself three hours to unwind. As much as I wanted to sleep, anxiety tied my mind into knots.

Will my plans actually work? Am I overlooking something, just like I did in Belgium?

Logistics played through my head, pointing out flaws in the plans I had created. I worked and reworked our strategy. The results were always the same.

This isn't helping. Just get some sleep!

The weight of my eyelids gradually pulled my eyes shut. Tension melted from my body. I drifted into my subconscious, the world around me fading.

Knuckles pounded against the door. My eyes cracked open to look at my watch.

Darn it. It's already four o'clock.

What a waste of three hours.

Voices buzzed in the other room. I suppose I better get up. For a moment, I just lay there, unable to move.

Get up, I told my body. Move.

Slowly, my limbs complied. My legs swung over the side of the bed, bracing themselves to stand. I started to roll forward off my bed, but caught myself at the last moment. It can't be normal for me to feel this tired. I've gotten so much sleep in the past twenty-four hours. Why am I not like Xara? She can pull all-nighters with no problem.

I would never understand her, even though she and I were the same, even though I had all her thoughts stored in my head. The fact saddened me. It was like I would never understand a part of myself.

Come on Xara, wake up! I bounded on my toes thrice to get the blood flowing in my body, then strolled into the room. The members of Team Summit were sitting in the living room—Dari and Finn on one couch, Jax and Ty on the other.

"Hey," I said to the others, trying to sound energetic.

"Hey, X," Dari said. "We're just waiting on Dawn and Jef."

"Okay." I grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl sitting on the living room table. Hopefully the sugar would give me enough energy to keep going. I plopped onto the cushions next to Ty and took a bite of the apple. Sweet juice burst from the crunchy fruit. A tiny bit of energy flowed into my body. It's not much, but it'll be enough to get me through the briefing.

"You look tired," Ty said.

"Yeah," I replied. I took another bite of the apple to avoid conversation. Ever since the Director told me about the double agent, I was apprehensive of the others.

Trust no one, he said. No one.

The words danced through my head in a loop. How could I possibly complete this mission knowing that I could be betrayed at any moment? These missions depended upon trust. We needed to rely on each other. How could I delegate tasks if someone could betray me at any moment? And worse yet, what if there were multiple moles within my Team?

I glanced at the other members of Team Summit out of the corner of my eye. Dari was absorbed in some advanced tech thing on her ipad, Finn was playing a grand theft auto on his phone, Jax was polishing a machete, and Ty was staring into space and murmuring to himself in a Brooklyn accent.