Under New Management

Chapter 8

Lucy and the girls spent all day in her husband's lab. It felt strange to be the one doing all of the commanding, instead of recieving them. She wondered if this was what it felt like to be Gru, back when he was a fully-functioning villain.

She tried everything that she could to find out about this case, but to no avail. The AVL had a very strong security system, and even with Dr. Nefario's advanced hacking abilities, they couldn't break through.

She sighed. She had walked into this with big plans of coming to Gru's aid, and being a hero, but so far, she hadn't really accomplished anything.

Just then, the buzzer went off that meant that someone had rung the doorbell upstairs.

"I'll get it." She said to her daughters, who had all gotten up to answer it themselves.

She walked upstairs, and answered the door. Standing on their front porch was a young woman who couldn't have been older than 25. She had a blond ponytail and glasses. She wore capris with a white blouse and black flats.

"Um, may I help you?" Lucy asked.

"I think so." The woman replied, with a crisp British accent. "However, I also believe that I can help you quite a bit as well."

Lucy blinked a few times. This was certainly unexpected.

"You're trying to find out about the case that your husband is on, right?" The blond haired woman asked. The way she asked wasn't like she was really wondering. She knew.

"Eh, would you like to come in?" Lucy asked. Who was this lady?

"Yes. Thank you." She said, and followed Lucy into the house.

"How do you know about that?" Lucy asked as soon as the door was closed.

"My name is Emily Collins." She said. How was that name familiar? She knew that she had heard that name. Then, it struck her. She was one of the people who had been fired at the same time as she had.

"You were an AVL agent." Lucy said.

"Indeed. I used to work in the technology department." She said. "But, like you, I was deemed unworthy by our new authorities."

She said this all with a tone of bitterness. Clearly, Lucy wasn't the only one having hard time adjusting.

"Anyways, I've been wanting a case for years. I've been waiting, biding my time until they let me into the field. Finally, Silas gave me one, but then he was fired, and then I was too, and I never got a chance to complete it." She explained.

"So, how did you know what I was doing?" Lucy asked.

"Honestly, I didn't." She said. "Your husband and his new partner were given my case, and I've been trying to follow after them. But, I need a partner. My old partner has moved on to another job in the AVL, and I figured that you would want to go after Gru to protect him."

"So, you want us to work together?" Lucy asked, still trying to process everything.

Emily nodded.

"But, we won't be able to get any information." Lucy said. "I've been trying all day!"

"You forgot that this was my old case. I already have most of the information that we need. And, anything that we don't have, I can get. I used to work in technology. I'm a hacker." Emily replied.

"But, their security! It's so tight! No one could get past that!" She insisted.

"Yes, I can." Emily smiled. "I created it."

Lucy smiled too. This might just work.

"Emily, these are my daughters." Lucy said. "Margo, Edith, and Agnes. Girls, this is Emily. She's going to help us."

She had brought Emily down to the lab, and was now helping her to get acquainted with everyone down there.

"Hello, girls." Emily said.

"I like the way you talk." Agnes said, shyly. "It's sounds pretty."

"Oh, thank you, dear!" Emily smiled. "I have an accent, because I grew up in England."

Emily got to work on one of the computers. After a few minutes, she cried out triumphantly.

"Got it!" She exclaimed.

Lucy rushed over, and looked over at the computer. The entire case file was laid out in front of them.

"That's everything we need." Emily said. "Let's head out. You have a ship that we can use, right?"

"Yeah," Lucy said.

"Well, then, what are we waiting for?" Emily said. "Let's load up the ship and go."

Lucy hesitated, then looked at her daughters. How could she leave them again?

"You know that I can't bring you girls with me." Lucy knelt down in front of them.

"We know." Margo said. "Go ahead. We have Dr. Nefario."

Lucy still hesitated. She had felt fine about this earlier, but now...

"We'll be fine." Edith insisted.

Lucy nodded. All of the girls wrapped her up in a big hug.

"I'll just go change, and then we can go." Lucy said to Emily. "Girls, can you help Emily load up the ship?"

They happy set to work as Lucy rushed upstairs. She pulled on her olive green cargo pants, navy shirt, and navy Ked's. She wanted to be more functional, and blend in a little more than she normally did with her bright dress.

She hugged the girls one last time, and climbed into the ship. She pulled out, and headed towards the location that Emily had plotted for her.

Hold on, Gru. I'm coming.