I•C•E// r.s.l.❣

1.3

The way they received me, astonished me beyond words. Not a month ago, I would have most likely be received with boos and chanting if the word 'traitor'. Or silence, the spies were good at that.

But they treated me as if I was a hero. In a way, I was. I don't mean to toot my own horn but, I saved a café full of people and got a bullet in the gut in return.

Throughout the 6 weeks of recovery, my friends have been closer to me than ever, and their support has been massive. I could, however, feel something. Like, as if that bullet ricocheted inside me and travelled to my brain, 'flicking on' something.

I realised I still liked Ross early on, the moment he volunteered to change my bandage, take a sample of my blood, check my pulse etc. Maybe he was being nice, but there was a degree of finesse whenever it came to me with him, and it caused me to smile like an idiot. And that can be a bit of a shock when you're used to his boyish, hyper Labrador behaviour.

Not only that, but he is great (banter) company. I'm not really supposed to laugh in case I burst my stitches but it's virtually impossible with his facial expressions- and it gets even funnier when he does it without noticing.

Altogether, he was a cutie. And I still have very strong feelings for him.

"Here we are." Rocky opened the door to my room, and I walked in slowly, directing myself to the bed. I plopped down. "Careful!"

"I'm partially healed, shutup." I messed with him and he smiled, finding a seat with the others. Riker started off the conversation.

"Now that you're better, could you explain what happened the day you were shot?"

"I've told you all what happened."

The moment Ross stood up and placed one foot on my bed, I knew what he was about to do.

"Why the fuck you lyin'?
Why you always lyin'?"

Everybody was already laughing as I tried to cut him off. "I'm not! I-"

"MMMM OHMYGOD" he then points to me. "Stop fucking lyin'!"

"Okay that was good timing." I gave him a high-five. "But, I'm not lying. It's the people from my old organisation coming to kill me, and I'm afraid they'll be successful soon."

"Hell no they won't, because the whole compound will burn them if they touch you." Rydel smiled. "Everybody saw it as a heroic act, even though you were a little dumb and got onto the table."

"Thing is, they weren't aiming to kill me, because they had the power to do so. So, I don't know what they're playing at.." My eyes flicked to the door which opened slightly, David's familiar face poking in. "Hello."

"Hi everybody, I didn't realise there was a party here." He walked in as the others stood up. "I guess I've killed the party mood!"

As they left, Ross turned to me. "We're all heading out tonight, you're in?"

"Yeah-"

"Hell yeah she's in, inside the compound." David intervened. Ross arched an eyebrow.

"What? No, I'm coming!"

David looked at me. "No."

I looked back in defiance. "Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

"No!"

"Yes!"

"ALRIGHT." Ross shouted above us. "Text me later if you're coming, bye!"

I watched David sit beside me. "I will claw my way out if you say no."

"You need to rest, your stitches are still healing. Say you get injured, wherever you're going with those guys." He said.

I frowned. "They aren't 'those guys', it's just Ross and the gang."

"Okay. But anyway, I want to offer you a trip, to London." He said. "We're going to beg for pardon from the Queen- or at least her spokesperson- and ask her to stop I.C.E."

"Can we be tourists whilst we're there?" I asked him. He pursed his lips, and then nodded, giving in. "Yay!! But yes, business first. Party later, or now for me."

He looked at me. "Okay fine, be back in by 1 at least."

I gave him a hug. "Thank you, love you, get out! I need to get dressed."

Once David left, I grabbed some high waisted jeans and my converse from my wardrobe and put them on, adding a simple leather jacket to the floral shirt I already had on. I gave my hair a slight brush and grabbed my phone and purse, dashing out of the door as I shot Ross a text.

To my luck, my friends were gathered at the gate along with, Ava.

Lately, she's been tagging along with us a lot. I honestly don't mind it, but I think she forgets the personal space boundary with us, especially Ross.

He greeted me. "Hi! I invited Ava so she wasn't on her own inside, is that cool?"

She looked at me with wide eyes, smiling.

"What? Yeah, it's cool." I nodded. "Shall we get going?"

"Let's hit the road." Rocky announced and we left the compound.