Agent Moonlark

Chapter Nine

Keefe

He didn't know what he had been expecting. The room was already very silent, but when Sophie asked, "What are you doing, here?," he swore he could hear a pin drop.

Keefe panicked. He didn't want this mission to succeed. But he didn't want it to fail this early. Maybe it was that he wanted to know what the Black Swan was like. Maybe he just wanted to get to know the girl more commonly called Agent Moonlark.

He gave her a pleading look. He didn't think that would work. Miraculously, though, Sophie didn't rat him out.

"Never mind," Sophie said stiffly, glaring subtly at Keefe, "he just looks like someone I met." She smiled through gritted teeth.

"I've never met you before, either," Keefe lied. He glanced at Dex, pretending to be nervous. Dex gave him a thumbs up in return.

Sophie looked like she was thinking hard. Most likely about his sudden appearance. But why didn't she tell them that he was Agent Lodestar? Sure, she could have gotten in trouble for telling him her identity, but the Black Swan probably already knew what had happened in the museum...right?

"Welcome to the Black Swan," one of the cloaked people said warmly, oblivious to the sudden tension between Keefe and Sophie. "I'm Agent Forkle."

Keefe gave him a chin nod. "'Sup, Fork dude?"

Even though Keefe couldn't see Forkle's face, he imagined the guy was shocked.

"I'm Agent Granite," the person next to Forkle said. His cloak was a marbled grey. Hmmm. Like granite.

"How ya doing, Granny?," Keefe asked innocently. Gods, he wanted - no needed - to see their faces right now. If he could, he would snap pictures of them, and treasure those pictures forever.

Someone in a white cloak stepped forward hesitantly. "I'm...Agent Squall."

"How's life, Small?" Keefe had a hard time keeping his poker face. He wanted to laugh so badly...Poking fun at them was almost better than pranking Alvar.

A fourth person came up to greet Keefe. His cloak was tie-dye rainbow. Wowww, all he needed now was a peace sign spray-painted onto that, and a great passion for the Earth.

"I am Agent Blur," he introduced.

"Peace out, Burr!" Keefe honestly did not even know what peace out meant.

"Not your best," Forkle commented.

"I know." Keefe stuck out his tongue.

The last cloaked person came up. "I am Agent Wraith."

"Greetings, Invisible Man with the 'invisible' girlfriend." (Have you watched Hotel Transylvania? XD)

"You like to joke around, don't you?," Granny asked, though the question was rhetorical.

"What? Me?" Keefe put a hand over his chest and feigned horror. "Never!"

Forkle mumbled something about coping mechanisms, which Keefe did not like. These people had just met him, and they were already analyzing him in every way they could. He felt a spike of irritation.

"You will be training here, at Alluveterre, for the next few years before you will be able to go on missions," Forkle jumped right in. Talk about a subject change.

"Great," Keefe gave them a double thumbs up.

"Hmmmm," Forkle muttered, then said louder, "Agent Moonlark? Will you please show Mr. Sencen to his room?"

Sophie nodded reluctantly. Keefe hooked his arm through hers. "Let's go!"

Once in the hallway, though, Sophie released the storm in her mind.

Sophie

"What the heck are you doing, here?! Are you here to infiltrate the Black Swan?!" She spoke in furious whispers, not wanting those inside the meeting room to hear her. She tried to figure out why she hadn't told them who Keefe really was, but...she didn't know. She didn't know what had compelled her to lie to them all...again.

"My mom." Keefe seemed to deflate. "She sent me here. I couldn't say no. Not after the Lumenaria Gem."

Sophie bit her lip, feeling guilty. "Well, go back! The Black Swan is already doing bad enough-" She stopped before she revealed more. Dang it.

"Please." He looked so vulnerable right then that she felt her face soften. Slightly.

"Keefe, there are a million reasons I should send you back! Give me one good reason I shouldn't." She could barely contain the rage in her voice. She was shaking.

Keefe stared at the ground. "I want to help you." Silence met his statement.

Sophie found herself pausing and studying him. His shoulders were slumped, and he looked defeated. He could have been acting. But his eyes...they were so desperate. Was he lying?

He could be a really good actor. He could just be here for information. He could be using her. But he sounded so sincere. So helpless.

Agent Forkle had said Keefe had a bad life. Who was Sophie to send him back to it? But Keefe was a spy. What was on his records could be false. At the museum, though, he had admitted that everything was getting to be too much. The feeling of understanding that had passed between them...

Sophie knew that the right thing to do - the safe thing to do - was to kick him out. To expose him.

But what was life without taking risks?

"Ok."

Keefe stared at her, shocked. "Ok?"

"You have one chance, Keefe Sencen. Don't blow it." She spoke softly, with no viciousness.

Keefe nodded enthusiastically. "I promise, Foster. You won't regret this. I'll do anything I can to help!"

Sophie wouldn't meet his eyes. "I won't tell anyone who you really are."

Keefe took her hands in his. "I know it's too soon for this. But trust me."

Sophie really should have an award for making the worst life choices because she nodded.

Keefe brightened. "Thanks," he told her quietly. "You don't know how much this means to me."

Sophie turned her head and side-eyed him. "Like I said, you better not blow it. You show any sign of betraying us and..." She didn't have to finish. He knew what she was going to do if that happened.

"I swear on Fork dude's hood that I will not betray you." Sophie raised an eyebrow at that. "Now, where's my room?"

Sophie led him to a room near hers. "I'm coming to see you tonight, because, you know-"

"Yeah, yeah," he sighed. "Agent Lodestar, here. You gotta make sure I'm not lying. But I'm not," he added quickly.

"Anyways, instructions should be on your nightstand," she finished.

"See ya, Foster!"

"See you, too," she said under her breath. She hoped, with all of her heart, that she had made the right choice.