Spy School Revolution

Surveillance

Student Quarters

CIA Academy of Espionage

Washington, DC

0800 Hours

I had crashed in Jawa's room for the night. We decided he was the least likely to be investigated for his ties with me, seeing as Zoe and Mike were my known best friends. Chip was an option too, but his room was so messy it looked like a hurricane had whisked its way through it. I would've been concerned for my safety if I had spent a night sleeping on his floor.

It had been nerve-wracking trying to fall asleep inside a school that was actively hunting me. I tried reassuring myself that the security cameras had caught me leaving the campus, that the administration would have no reason to suspect I had doubled back. But it didn't really help. There were other things on my mind too.

Erica was perhaps the most intelligent, competent person I had ever met. She buried her secrets extremely deep. To be able to get information on her that would force her to turn against the agency? Even SPYDER hadn't managed it. In fact, the only time SPYDER had forced Erica to willingly do their bidding was when they had captured her father and grandfather, last summer.

That had to be it. Her family was really her only weakness. If they had threatened to hurt them, perhaps that was the leverage that had led her to take the fall for the bombing. But there were some issues with that as well. 

For starters, her entire family was made up of spies. Elite, reputed, and competent, except for Alexander, her father. But even then, he was still part of the CIA. He had protection from his agency. Cyrus Hale was old, but his abilities were sharp as ever. He was so vigilant at all times I highly doubted anyone could be able to get the jump on him. And if he suspected someone was targeting his family, he would protect Alexander as well.

Well, maybe. He was pretty grumpy about his son's lack of skill.

That left Catherine Hale, Erica's mother. But she was halfway across the globe at the moment, and she was every bit as talented and vigilant as Cyrus, and besides, most of her own agency didn't even know she was a spy. Half her family hadn't even known until recently, including her own husband. This unknown organization couldn't possibly known about her. Or could they? I figured I should assume the worst.

I tossed and turned, growing more worried. I cared about Erica's family, too. I thought about trying to contact them, then figured if they didn't already know, Erica thought it was for the best that they didn't. 

Before I knew it, morning had arrived. As I blearily sat up, I saw Jawa sitting on his bed, already fully dressed and reading a textbook, looking well-rested and chipper.

"You look terrible," Jawa observed brightly.

"Thanks," I replied, too tired to come up with a retort.

Several minutes later, the others trickled into the room slowly to not draw suspicion from the faculty and students. 

Once we were all assembled, we entered the subterranean tunnels through the ceiling again. I decided to not mention what I had been thinking about the night before. The more they knew, the more danger they would be in. Plus, Chip and Jawa didn't know about Catherine. 

We carefully left the same way I had come. Apparently, my friends hadn't known about this exit. I kind of doubted anybody had known except for the Hales. And me, I guess.

Once we were out on the street, I felt my friends dropping their guard a little. They even seemed a little excited to be on a mission, even if it was unsanctioned. I remained worried, knowing we might be in more danger now rather than less. 

My plan was to scope out our destination before actually going in, to insure that we weren't walking into a trap of some kind. 

"Alright," I said, once we were a block away. "Chip, Jawa, try to find a vantage point around the café. Warn us if you see anyone suspicious. Mike, Zoe, stay around the front windows and get a closer look at the people inside. I'll take the back of the building." I held up my phone. "We can use these to communicate, but only if it's an emergency. The CIA can probably track our location, and if they can, the enemy definitely can."

Chip and Jawa nodded and headed off. I turned to see Zoe and Mike watching me with matching expressions, like they were trying to figure me out or something. "What?" I said, trying to think if I had forgotten something obvious.

"Nothing," they said in unison. 

Before I could say anything, Mike patted my shoulder, his face morphing into a grin. "Let's go find Erica."

I watched them walk away. I had been trying to seem confident to hide my nervousness, but maybe they had seen through it. I blinked, realizing this was yet again a lesson I had learned from Erica. But maybe it hadn't worked. They were my best friends, after all. They knew me well.

I had bigger things to worry about. I took a roundabout way to get to the alley behind the café. I had pulled my hood up to hide my face, which was just as well, since it was still a bit rainy.

The alley was damp, gloomy, and littered with sodden trash. I made my way down it, feeling tense. Every single instinct in my body was on the alert. I figured it was probably just because alleys were secluded and dark, generally associated with crime. I soldiered on, although I didn't feel very brave. 

I made it to the back of the café. There was nothing special about it, unless I was counting a large dumpster where the café's waste was disposed of. I peered through the backdoor. All I saw was several employees bustling around a kitchen area, washing dishes and ringing up customers. Normal coffee shop stuff.

It's not like I was expecting to see a bunch of bad guys handling money and plotting a terrorist attack, but I still relaxed a bit at confirmation that wasn't the case.

Which was a big mistake. As I turned around to survey the rest of the alley, I was met by a fist hurtling at my face.

A/N: Sorry for the late update, guys! I am very much a newbie to the whole writing business and miscalculated how long the chapter would take. Please bear with me as I get used to this! :) 

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