Agent Kat

Chapter 34: Discovered

Dear readers,

I would just like to say, MERRY CHRISTMAS! Yesterday was my birthday, so I am officially 15 years-old now! I want to wish you all a very merry Christmas, and a happy holiday to anyone who doesn't celebrate Christmas. You guys are awesome, and I've loved having you read my stories. I hope you all have a wonderful rest of 2015, as the New Year is next week. Can you believe it? I can't.

Again, thank you, and have a happy holiday.

-flygirl1

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Several shots were fired, each doing nothing to the creature Kat had dubbed Dragon. (She's not particularly creative in life threatening situations...)

Kat saw that the rest of the SHIELD agents were occupied with Adala and Dragon, so she took it into her own hands to go and retrieve the Monestone. It may not have been her mission anymore, but it was her moral obligation to make sure evil did not get hold of the materials that lay inside of the stone.

She raced past Dragon's whipping tail and ran down the hallway, taking care not to make too much sound as her feet padded along the cold floors.

As she quickly turned the corner, she heard something behind her. Without looking, she fired her gun at the hallway behind her.

"Hey!" a male voice cried. "What the heck?"

Kat stopped and the air behind her shimmered. She gaped at Brendan as he appeared out of thin air. "Where did you come from?"

"I can turn invisible," he said, suddenly timid. He shook it off and said, "I'm coming with you. There's no way you can do this on your own, and besides, I am the leader of this mission. It's my duty to make sure we get the Monestone and get out safely."

She sighed, but motioned for him to follow her. "Fine. Come on. I may remember the way to the lab."

They ran together down the long, clean, sterile hallways, and a lump rose in Kat's throat. She recognized the dent in that wall... The one she had made when she escaped and had to knock a guard out. She saw the room that was boarded up after she accidentally set a bomb off when she was five.

Her heart started to beat in her throat, but she pushed on. However, as soon as they passed her old room, the memories were almost too much to bear. She swallowed her fear and panic as they turned a corner and saw the lab at the end of the hallway.

"In there," she said, her voice suddenly hoarse.

They came to the door, which was locked by an electronic keypad. There were ten numbers, and two LED lights above them. One red, one green.

Without the passcode, they couldn't get inside. Looking at it hard, Kat saw that all of the numbers were printed onto the keys, unraised. She noticed that four of the numbers were more worn away than the others: 2, 5, 8 and 0. What could the code be?

"We can't get in now," Brendan said, cursing quietly.

"Well, there may be a way to figure out the code..." Kat mused, her panic forgotten as her mind whirled with ideas. "See how some of the numbers are worn away?" She pointed to the keys. "When you punch in the code, your fingers have natural oil on them, which would wear away the paint. However, the oil is used up quickly, which means that most likely, the order would be from the most worn away to the least."

Brendan stared at her for a second. "You know, I don't think I give you enough credit, sometimes."

Kat smiled. "Um, thanks? Anyway, that would mean..." She quickly figured it out. "The code most likely is eight-two-five-zero." She punched in the code, and the green light lit up. The metal door slid open with a whoosh.

"Yes!" Brendan cheered. "Come on."

Inside, they saw the microscopes, the vials of mysterious substances, and all the strange machines that the scientists at the lab used on a daily basis.

"Quick, locate the rock," Brendan ordered.

Kat scanned the room. "I can't see it." It wasn't on any of the tables, or in any of the jars, or on the counters.

"Look better!"

Rolling her eyes, she went around the room, lifting papers and folders, little jars of strange objects, and then she felt something strange as she was looking at the wall. What's this, she thought. It was a little crease in the wood at the back of a cabinet. She ran her fingers over the faint line, and traced it to a little notch on the side.

"Over here," she said. "I may have found something."

She reached farther, to get her fingers around the notch. Brendan was suddenly at her side. "What is it?"

"I'm not sure..." She grunted as she wrapped her fingertips around the wood and pulled. The whole plank of wood slid out of place and clattered to the floor. She froze, hoping that the contents on top wouldn't come crashing down.

Nothing.

She let out a sigh of relief.

Brendan examined the space. "It looks like... A door." He moved in beside Kat and reached in. "There's another notch, here," he said.

He pulled it, and the back swung open, revealing a red and black stone, white and clear breaking up the harsh colours. It was round, and oval shaped, smooth and clean. There was a small chip missing, but other than that, it was perfect. It sat on a  clear glass plate.

Brendan took it in his hands gingerly and pulled it out.

He smiled at Kat as he turned to face her, but froze. Kat was about to ask why, but a click-clack made her freeze too.

"What are you doing in here?" a deep male voice said.

She turned around slowly and saw a tall, burly man in a black suit standing near the entrance, holding a pistol... aimed at them. He looked to be in his mid-forties, with salt and pepper hair and the beginnings of a beard growing on his square chin.

The man glared at them. "I said, what are you doing here?"