Little Spy | Peter Parker ✓

[22]

"WE'RE RUNNING OUT OF TIME."

Staying as quiet as I possibly could, I leant against the wall and watched Inga tap her long nails against the desk, focused entirely on her conversation. She had been talking for several minutes, hushed whispers to an unknown caller concerning the mission - my mission. She didn't notice me watching, and I doubted she would - her concentration was solely on her update to a mysterious someone. Although it was difficult to make out specific conversation points, it was easy enough to try.

"...it's not exactly easy," she continued in Russian, harsh voice filled with irritation, "she's taking her time on this. This is why we should have chosen another, not her."

It wasn't hard to assume the 'her' she was referring to was me. I tightened my fists, broken nails digging into my palms and held back any rebuttal, trying to hear what the unknown on the other end had to say. It was practically impossible, however, and I was left to wait until she spoke again.

Inga sighed, running a hand through barely-existant hair, and I could tell she was growing frustrated with whatever he or she was saying. "I can't make her improve, she's an idiot; she doesn't listen to anyone. You just have to wait until you have what you want!"

Another long pause, and then her turn again. "I understand that time is running out, but you told us we had until the end of summer to get what you wanted. We still had weeks, months until our deadline runs out, so don't change the deal now."

Get what you wanted. My blood ran cold at her words, and my mind jumped to the worst places - considering everything I had been told, their mission must be related to the boy too. However, I wasn't sure what they could possibly desire from him; the Academy was full of able-bodied, strong, well-trained soldiers who could easily wipe out thousands in a blink of an eye. He was weak, and annoying, and insisted on sharing every thought while he fought - that wasn't desirable for anyone, was it?

"I can only do so much. I'm making her do as much as I can, but there are things you do not understand of this. Tell them all they have to wait, and realise that we are working with a child - an imbecile child who is taking her time getting what you want. You will have your prize at the beginning of summer, and that should and will be good enough for you."

A single bead of blood dripping from my lip, bitten clean through from my bad habit of gnawing on it, but I ignored the sudden pain and hung onto her words, trying to think through any solution that could add up - ultimately failing. Nothing she was saying made sense, and none of it seemed to correlate with what I had been told. Someone was begging her to get them a prize, which assumably, was the Parker boy, but I had been told my job would be to protect and watch him and make sure he stayed on the right path.

Whatever that path was, I didn't trust a single thing about Inga and her mysterious caller - not that I ever did. Peter was undoubtedly much more than just a boy in a ridiculous suit to them.

"I will get what you want. That is all I can promise." She paused for a moment, then continued, "nothing more."

I hurriedly turned away and headed back to my 'room', pretending to be looking for the copious amounts of research provided by Inga herself for me - however, my mind was on everything but that. There would be no way of me to learn what she was talking about - asking would only give me away - but I needed to find some way of learning my mission - whatever the hell the true mission, that is.

The Parker boy was special, that was undeniable, but he seemed to be much more of a target than I had thought before. Despite myself, I was worried; whatever the Academy wanted, they got, and the mysterious caller didn't seem too eager on waiting.