Spy School: Time Off

Chapter 19: Acceptance

The Atlantic Ocean

SPYDER's Underground Lair

Tuesday

1400 Hours

Ben's POV

"You can be such an asshat sometimes you know" I grumbled. "I know, I know. You could just stop stopping our plans though. Let us win for once" Joshua said smiling, like he was enjoying this whole thing. He then turned his attention to Erica, who was laying on the floor. "Oh Erica, you can leave if you want. Just walk out that door and you can be home free." My anger started to come back out, but I tried to control it as the guards opened up a path for Erica to walk down. "Aww, such a shame. I was hoping you would think you were over reacting and just suddenly get up" he snickered. "F*^k you Josh!" Erica growled. "Oooo, feisty. Take the lovers away. I don't want to see them until we finish our plan. I'll kill them personally when it's over" he said menacingly. I suddenly broke out into a cold sweat, I needed to stall for longer. "Wait, Joshua! I figured out your plan." Joshua stopped the guards, looking genuinely intrigued. "Go on, tell me." "You guys are going to use a modified neurotoxin from a Vebon spider, that you made airborne and active using Biosite, a rare mineral that causes reactions in toxins that you were using bombs to dig up, to make a global pandemic. Then you planned to sell the cure using you Ms. S Health company to make billions" I said confidently. Joshua just stared in shock, gawking. His mouth would have touched the floor if it could. "How did-what the-how, never mind. Good job Mr. Ripley. You may have figured out our plan but you'll never stop it. Take em' away boys." And with that, we were being hauled out of the room to another prison cell. I couldn't help feeling like I failed again, like I always do.

We were being shoved into a cell together since they only had two cells and Mike and Zoe was in the other one. It looked like the one I was in with Murray except it looked newer. The walls were made of fresh brick, the bars were stainless, and the mattress had memory foam. "Well this is fancy" Erica said in a depressed tone. "Not like we are going to be able to enjoy it." We heard some shuffling on the other side of the bricks. "Ben, Erica, your here!" Zoe said excitingly. "Well, it's not like we are in this cell to break you out" I said monotonal. "Oh. well I am sure you will figure a way out, you always do!" Zoe said trying to stay positive. "Do you know their plan at least" Mike said, also losing hope. "Well, I do know that." So I explained to them the whole plot and how SPYDER wants to cause another global pandemic. Both Mike and Zoe went silent in shock. "How are they going to get the toxin out" Zoe asked wearily. "I assume they are going to use bombs all over the world like the ones in my older cell." Where she got hurt I thought to myself. "Where's Cyrus?" Erica asked. "He was with us earlier but Dane took him away. They said they had unfinished business" Mike said. "Oh great. Just great" I said. "Ben don't, it's n-" "It is though, it's always my fault. I left him alone...like I left you." I wanted to be alone, to die in peace. So I went to the corner of the mattress and sat there.

I sat there and sulked in the corner. Surrounding myself in the soft pillows they provided. I wanted to lock myself away, to give myself what I deserved. They tried to talk to me but I pushed them away. I didn't deserve them, I should've saved them. But instead, I let them all down. I let everyone down, the whole world. I wanted to cry and leave this world.

Erica's POV

Ben was just sitting in the corner and everything felt hopeless. The whole room dropped in temperature without Bens optimistic outlook. If he was here, he would have told us about how there is always a way out and how it's not over yet. But not now. Now...everything was dark. There was no light anymore, just darkness. Zoe and Mike pleaded with us, to no avail. "Come on Erica, we can do it. We have always stopped them in the past" Zoe said hopefully. "............." "Erica, you were always the strong one. You can push through what ever your going through right now" Zoe said with confidence. "HOW! How could you possibly know what I am going through! Have YOU ever not been able to walk! Have YOU ever broken someone before! Ridding them of all there joy!" "Oh Erica, I never knew you felt like that. I am sorry" she said genuinely sad for me. "But you have to realize, it's not your fault for what had happened. Ben isn't mad at you, he's mad at himself. You didn't cause this." "How would you know though! What if he is mad at me!" I said as I started crying. "Because it happened to me to with my dad" Zoe said sullenly. "I-it did" I said between tears. "One night a robber broke into our house, I was about 4 or 5. My mom tried to wake my dad but she wasn't fast enough, so when the robber realized she was awake. He shot her and she passed away right before my dad could wake up and save her. My dad didn't talk or do anything  with me for months, but he wasn't mad at me. He was mad at himself for not being there for mom" Zoe said with some sadness in her voice. "H-how did you g-get him to talk again" I said calming down. "I talked to him and helped him overcome his problem like I am doing with you. Do you feel better." "Yeah" I sniffled. "Then go over and talk to Ben, try to sort out your problems." "Thank you Zoe, thank you" I said as I crawled over next to Ben.

Ben's POV

Erica pulled up next to me on the bed and placed her arm around me. I don't know why she would ever want to talk to me. I ruined her life, I ruined everything. "You didn't ruin everything Ben. I still have a career, don't worry about that" Erica said like she could read my mind. "How could I not worry, I ruin everything. On every mission! Not just this one!" I said still trying to hold back my tears. "Ben, everyone makes mistakes, not just you." "It is just me though! You have never told the enemy how to bomb a bridge! Or let a mole befriend you! Or even let a assassin into your room! You always have a plan or back up, I never do!" "Ben don't be so hard on yourself, I make mistakes to. Everyone does, and it's not your fault about what happened to me. It's SPYDER's fault." "How is it not MY fault! Name one mistake you have ever made! NONE!" I started to sob. "I've made plenty before, I let Murray knock me out that one time." "So, that's just one time. I'm useless anyways, I've only hurt all of our missions." "Ben, that's not true. Without you, I could have never have figured out any of SPYDER's plans before. Your not useless, your brilliant and you need to give yourself more credit." "You kn-know what, none of this even matters. I st-still let you down and I will never be able to repay you" I said while balling out in tears, unable to control myself at this point. "Ben, you have never let me down. You know what, I have made more mistakes. I have let moles close." "I ha-have let you down though. I ruined everything." No Ben, you haven't. I let Joshua close before, that was one big mistake. But do you know what wasn't." "W-What." "You. You haven't let me down. You've always been there for me in tough times and you haven't messed 'us' up yet. I've made many mistakes in my life before, but trusting you wasn't one of them" she said pouring from her heart. I finally look up at her and see how much she means it. "Really" I said wiping away the tears. "Really" she said while pulling closer. Her face was right in front of mine, I could feel her warm breath. I could even still smell the lilacs and gunpowder on her through all the dirt. She leaned in closer and so did I. Our lips met and she put her hands on my face. I put my hands on her hips and we sat there kissing on the mattress for minutes. It felt amazing, her lips tasted like fresh strawberries. And her tongue...well. We were passionate and just laid down together kissing for minutes, forgetting about anything else. She finally pulled away after Mike got her attention, "Umm, excuse me. We still have a world to save love birds" Mike said. I could practically hear him smirking. Erica sat up and yelled at them, assuring them nothing happened. She got next to me and whispered "More of that later" and booped me on the nose. I couldn't help but smile. "Thank you Erica. I needed that" I said feeling a new burst of confidence. "Thanks for what part" she said giggling. "Both." "Hey love birds, have you figured out an escape plan yet. It would be quite useful right about now" Mike said annoyed. "Actually I do, I am ready to get out of here anyway. Too depressing" I said as I ripped open the mattress.

Thank you guys for 900 views!!! We finally reached a quarter 100 votes so thank you everyone who has voted, it really means a lot. I know there wasn't really any action in this chapter, but I wanted to get all the emotional stuff in order before the big finally so that Ben could perform at his best. I hoped you liked this chapter but I am sorry about the parallels to Covid in this plot. I didn't really think about it when I made it throughout the story so I am sorry if it offended any of you guys. I hope you guys have a Merry Christmas (or Hanukkah) and thanks for reading. 😊