CIA Academy of Espionage

Washington, DC

Olson Science Building

December 18th, 2015

0252 hours

Erica POV

Everyone looked stunned. However, Mike was the first to break and grinned mischievously at me, with everyone else following his action. If I were to guess, they were looking for a little bit of humor to cheer themselves up after witnessing the scene we just saw. I wasn't sure whether or not I could blame them, but I certainly did not want them reacting to something I said.

"Soooo... you think he's hot, eh?" teased Mike.

I felt my face heat up. "No, I was commenting on the temperature. I said 'it's hot,'" I tried in my best calm voice.

But it seemed that my ability to lie failed me, as they all facepalmed.

"It is frickin' December in Washington, DC. Erica, that excuse sucked," said Chip.

"Shut up," I muttered.

Zoe nudged Jawa. "Hey, you know what this means?"

Jawa's grin grew wider. "Oh yeah, our ship will sail soon!"

I tilted my head in confusion. 'Again, with the boats.'

"What's this about a ship?" I asked.

Jawa sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, Chip groaned and buried his head in his hands, Zoe looked at the sky with a sigh, and Mike stared at me incredulously.

"You oblivious gray boulder," he said.

My nostrils flared and I shot a glare at him. "What was that?"

He smiled. "You know, your glare becomes considerably less scary when you blush." He then checked his scope, saying, "OK, you can look again."

I looked back through the scope to see that Ben had finished changing his lower half, but was still shirtless. The heat rose to my face again and I averted my eyes quickly, while everyone else was chortling.

"Mike, you piece of—" I started.

"Cool it, Ice Queen. Or should I say, Smokescreen's Queen?" Chip interrupted with a smirk.

"If you tell anyone—" I started to threaten.

"You'll find us and kill us, we know!" they exclaimed in unison. I've used that phrase a lot, haven't I?

Jawa looked through his binoculars. "OK, he's good. Catherine and Alexander just reentered the room."

I sighed in relief and looked through my scope, where I saw a fully-dressed Ben in Star Wars pajamas.

'He looks kinda cute,' thought my mind.

'SHUT UP!' I screamed mentally.

I refocused myself. Ben was holding a photo in his hand. It was his family.

"Are you OK, Ben?" asked Mom.

He sighed. "I don't know. I miss them. I know I might see them again in some great beyond, but I'm worried. They're going to hate me. They probably know now what I've been up to," he said tearfully.

Dad stepped forward and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Ben, I'm sure they don't hate you. Do you want to know why?"

"W-why?"

This I had to hear.

"Because you're Ben Ripley, one of the kindest, most loyal, most loving people on the planet. I know that you would never betray your family, friends, or country, and even if you did, it would just be a ruse so you could take down the enemy later. You're not the one that killed them. They were killed by SPYDER. They were killed by terrorists who target anyone that's not on their side, civilians or not."

"That may be, but if I hadn't joined the CIA, they wouldn't have gotten caught in the crossfire. Heck, they assassins probably told my family that I was the one who sent them."

"It wasn't your fault Ben. Even if the assassins did pull such a dirty move, I know your family didn't believe it," Mom said, putting her hand on his other shoulder.

"Why do you think that?"

"Because if I or any of your friends were in their shoes, none of us would ever believe it. Not even Cyrus would believe it, and he doesn't trust anyone. We know you too well, Ben. We would never think of you to commit treason against anyone you cared about," she affirmed.

"You wouldn't?" he asked in a small voice.

"Never," my parents vowed. I silently agreed with them.

He turned back towards the photo. "How do I get it to stop? It hurts... a lot."

My parents were silent for a moment, then Mom answered:

"You must let go. I'm not saying to forget, but to accept the finality. If you don't move on, all of the good memories of your family will get corrupted, and you will sink further. You have to accept that it wasn't your fault. I've lost friends on missions before, and it was never easy, but letting them go was the only way I stayed sane. You have people that care about you, Ben. Come back to us."

Damn. They took the words out of my mouth. This is exactly what I would have proposed had I found out first. I mentally swore that I would do whatever it took to bring the real Ben back, and I would make sure everyone helped too. Even Grandpa. We were, as it seemed, all he had.

Ben was silent for a few moments before finally responding. "I-I don't know if I can... but for you... I'll try. Will you help me?"

"That's what we're here to do. We will always be by your side, whether in person or in spirit," said Dad.

"Promise?" Ben asked timidly.

"We promise," Mom responded.

He put the picture down on the table and turned, clutching my parents tightly. They returned the hug.

"Thank you Alexander. Thank you Catherine," he whispered.

"No problem, bud. We're here to help," soothed Dad.

"I love you guys," he murmured, barely loud enough for the bug to pick up, before falling limp in their arms.

My parents maneuvered their tangled selves and Ben to the couch, promptly falling asleep.

I exhaled a breath I didn't realize I was holding. Everyone else seemed to do the same, relieved that the crisis, for the time being at least, was over. Our friend was safe.

"Now what?" asked Jawa.

At this point, we didn't really have anything else we could do. Ben appeared to have begun healing at my parents' hands, and we certainly had figured out the entire situation.

"We can't do anything else at this point. We have to bug out," I said.

Chip smirked. "That's military lingo. Would you be using this because of a certain dude with Level 17 Math Skills that keeps using it?"

I felt myself blush again. "Shut up, idiot!" I snapped. "Anyways, quick question: are you guys staying on campus for the break?"

Surprisingly, everyone nodded.

"Parents are visiting my cousin in South Korea. Grandparents are also there. Since Ben's been staying with me off-campus, he's also staying back," said Mike.

"House is undergoing renovations. My parents said to stay back," said Zoe.

"Both parents were deployed, and my aunt came down with a case of the flu. She said to stay here," said Chip.

"My dad got deployed unexpectedly, my mom's at a conference. Grandparents are still in Canada, not expecting to have to come down here. I've been told to stay here," said Jawa.

"And I'm with my parents who are here, obviously, and Grandpa will show up eventually... maybe we can try something to... I don't know... cheer him up?" I wondered aloud.

Mike nodded furiously. "Hell, yes. I'm doing whatever it takes. He's my best friend, and he's helped us all so much. It's time we returned the favor. You guys with me?"

Everyone nodded, with steely looks of determination.

"Damn straight. I'm in," answered Chip.

"Of course I'm in," said Jawa.

"Frick, yes," affirmed Zoe.

"Definitely. Now, anyone got any ideas?" I asked.

"Ooh! What if we have a Christmas party?" exclaimed Zoe.

Jawa thought about it. "Christmas is a holiday for family. Even if it doesn't work 100%, it will definitely be of help in the healing process and will cheer him up."

Mike grinned. "Great idea, Zo!"

She blushed from his praise. This did not go unnoticed by Chip and Jawa, who looked at each other before looking back at the two younger students with evil smiles.

"I ship it," they said in unison.

'Again with the boats!' I thought.

They both turned red from embarrassment. "Stop!" they whisper-shouted.

"Zike appears to be ready to sail..." stage-whispered Chip, which was met with Jawa chuckling.

I grinned internally. I had no idea what the hell "Zike" was. Nonetheless, whatever "shipping" was outside of a logistics context, it seemed to be embarrassing for the two, which satisfied me. 'Revenge,' I thought.

"Ok, Jawa, Chip, a hand with the equipment? Zoe, Mike, get back to your dorms," I ordered. They obediently nodded and left. The rest of us packed up the equipment and silently moved back towards my dorm building. They handed me back my gear once we reached, bidding me good night. I gave a curt nod in response, and they proceeded to sneak back to their dorms. I made it to my room and put away the gear. I then changed and went to bed.

"I really hope this plan works," I said to myself as I passed out.

This should help to resolve that humorous little cliffhanger from last week.

Next chapter should be up within a week's time.  As always, drop a question in the comments if you've got one.

Until we meet again.  Stay safe.

- ADF-2