My suitcase sat on top of my desk, half-open. My jeans, sweatshirts and t-shirts sat in it with a couple of weapons I had to keep upon Erica's advice.

All I did was throw a couple of shorts in there, and I zipped it up. I changed into a pair of jeans and a t-shirt.

There was a soft knock on my door. Before I could open it, though, whoever was outside opened it themselves.

"All done?" Erica asked, walking into my room. She was wearing her standard black unitard, and her utility belt hung around her waist. She scanned my clothes and shook her head disapprovingly. "Seriously?"

"What?" I countered.

"Get into your unitard," she said. "It will suit you better."

"We're going to Alaska to live with the royal family for a while," I protested. "I can't wear that. It's the rainiest time of the year."

Erica rolled her eyes and grabbed my suitcase, opened it up and scanned over the contents. She smiled with satisfaction when she noticed how I didn't take out the weapons. "Looks good."

"Let's go," I said, and she walked out of my room. We walked to hers and she let me in. I sat on one of her chairs and watched as she poured tea into two cups.

"What do we do now?" I asked.

Erica shrugged. "We kill time."

"Kill time?" I repeated.
She nodded. "We have nothing to do."

"You're not the one to kill time."

Erica sighed. "I always kill time. You just...never notice."

"I don't notice a lot of things," I began, "but I do notice some things, like how you passed me a note."

She smiled. "I didn't think you'd find it."

"Hey!" I protested. "I'm not that dumb!"

She burst out laughing. I couldn't help but join in. This was one of the moments where Erica or I would crack a dumb joke, and we would burst out laughing. Erica told me it made her feel happier, and it gave her a break from iciness. We continued talking about weird things, not having anything else to do.

Erica's phone buzzed in her pocket. She whipped it out, read the text, and frowned.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"We have three minutes to report to Granddad," she replied. "Guess we killed too much time."

I got to my feet and grabbed my suitcase. Erica grabbed a suitcase not much bigger than mine, surprisingly. Erica was never one to pack so much.

She caught me eyeing her luggage. "What? We're on vacation, Ben," she remarked, using my line.

I could only smile as she walked out of the room. I trailed her as we inconspicuously wandered down the hallways until we finally reached the outside of the building.

Cyrus Hale was waiting for us, and the look on his face made it clear that he was not happy with us.

"Erica and Benjamin. What was so important that took you so long that made you six minutes late?" he thundered.

I shrank under his gaze. Erica looked at him dead in the eye, but she seemed at a loss for words as well. She obviously couldn't tell anyone that we were having fun.

"Leave it alone, Cyrus," Catherine spoke calmly. Then she turned to us. "Are you ready?"

We both nodded. "Where's everyone else?" I asked.

"Ben!" Zoe yelled, waving to us from an SUV. I waved back and we got into the SUV. Catherine took to driving, leaving Alexander and Cyrus back at the CIA.

Cynthia, Jamie and Zoe were in the back while Mike and I sat in the middle. Erica was all the way up front with her mother.

Once everyone was in, Catherine surveyed the group before turning the engine on. The whole drive was silent as she drove us to the airport.

"All right then, children, we are here!" Catherine announced about twenty minutes later. "Let's hustle."

We walked into the airport and Catherine directed us to the private airstrip. The jet was ready for us, so we walked that way.

I let everyone go in front of me and waited so Erica could catch up with me. When she approached, though, she shot me a confused look.

"Why did you wait for me?" she asked.

"Am I not allowed to?" I responded. She smiled. We went last, and she slipped her fingers through mine. I held on tight as we ascended the stairs. As soon as we entered the jet, though, she let go and sat in one of the many seats.

I slid in right next to her with pretty much nowhere else to sit. Behind us sat Cynthia and Jamie, and in front of us was Mike and Zoe.

"Alright, children! We will take off in about five minutes. I will be sitting up front with the pilot. The flight will take approximately nine hours and thirty minutes." With that, Catherine disappeared into the cockpit, leaving the six of us with nothing to do for about ten hours. Luckily, there was a kitchen, a small rec room and four bedrooms for us.

The jet took off ten minutes later, leaving everyone sitting quietly. Mike and Jamie took off to the rec room while Zoe shuffled into one of the bedrooms. Cynthia was busy on her phone and Erica busied herself in a book.

I was just about to get up and go to one of the bedrooms when Erica placed her hand upon mine, stopping me from getting up.

"What?" I asked.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

I shrugged. "I guess I'll just go get some sleep or whatever."

"Take this." Erica handed me a piece of paper. "You'll understand. You need this."

I mumbled some sort of thanks as she returned to her book. I walked into the last bedroom and opened it. It was a normal bedroom with two twin beds. I lay down on my back and looked over the piece of paper.

Erica had written a bunch of keywords across the paper. I figured that I needed to search them up, so I grabbed my phone, pulled up the browser, connected to the wi-fi and searched up the first keyword: Alaskan Royal Family.

Nothing relevant pulled up. I looked back at the piece of paper, only to realize that Erica only wanted me to search up one thing. The rest of the writing was some sort of note.

Ben-

I'm pretty sure nothing relevant turned up when you searched up the Alaskan Royal Family. Try logging in through your CIA ID, then use the CIA browser instead of safari.

So Erica had known I was going to search it up on the internet.

You know me more than I know myself, I thought as I smiled to myself, signing out and logging into my CIA ID. The CIA's web browser popped up and I tried searching up Alaskan Royal Family again.

There was a link to one website.

I pulled it up.

The royal Family of Alaska has maintained a private life and a private relationship with the US embassy, the US president and the Central Intelligence Agency.

Below that was a picture of the Royal Family. The caption read King Ryan, Queen Skye and their daughter Princess Piper.

King Ryan was a tall, muscular man with sea-green eyes and charcoal black hair. His wife Queen Skye was tall as well, and she had hazel eyes and blonde hair pulled back into a neat crown hairstyle. In front of them stood a teenage girl with green eyes, strawberry blonde hair and sharp features.

"Wow," I found myself muttering. They looked nothing like a royal family. A digital camera hung around the King's neck, and he sported a magnificent crown atop his head. The Queen wore a long, silky dress, so simple that it was a faded yellow with lace covered sleeves.

Princess Piper wore a dress as well, but it was a dark purple with a long backside and a short front side, so short that her knees were visible. She wore white leggings underneath. She wore simple white earrings, a small chain with a pendant I couldn't make out and a smartwatch.

They were all wearing Nike shoes as well, and if I hadn't known they were a royal family I would've assumed they were at a birthday party.

"Shocking, right? I was taken by surprise as well," Erica said, walking into the room. I looked up at her as she sat next to me, peering over my shoulder to look at my phone. Our arms brushed against each other, making my cheeks go hot. Her hair, which hung loose and untied, brushed against my face.

I scooted over so she'd be able to sit comfortably. I scrolled down past the picture, but there was no information.

"That's all?" I asked, astonished. "Two sentences?"
"I did some extensive research," Erica answered. "There's a lot more to this."

I put the phone down and looked at her. "Extensive research?"

Erica sighed. "Fine, you got me. I hacked into the Idiot's email account."

"So?" I ran a hand through my hair. "What did you find?"

"Apparently they don't exactly rule any place." Erica pulled her hair back into a bun. "They're just...there. Respected people. They live in a place with like, five hundred rooms and like a hundred bodyguards."

"Sound like Cynthia and Jamie to me," I said, "but with more security."

Erica grinned, like she was expecting this answer out of me. "Exactly. Which is why Cynthia and Jamie, two of our agents with a great deal of experience living a rich life will be crucial."

"Smart." I relaxed my shoulders, leaning against the wall.

All of a sudden the plane violently shook, surprising both of us. Erica let out a small yelp as she fell off the bed and the jet tilted slightly downward.

There was nothing for me to hold onto, and I fell off the bed as well, but I was on the other side.

The tumbling came to a stop ten seconds later and the jet returned to a straight position. I heaved myself off the floor and extended my hand to Erica, helping her up. She brushed herself off and checked for any damage.

"Are you okay?" I asked as she let her hair loose.

She nodded. "I'm fine, thank you. That must have been some kind of turbulence."

Catherine dashed into the room. Her face was slightly worried. "Are you both alright?" We both mumbled yes. Catherine sighed. "We might have a slight problem."

Now that worried me. "What kind of problem?"

"We're being attacked by missiles." Although that was clearly something to be concerned about, Catherine's melodious accent made it sound like she was telling us to buy potatoes at the supermarket.

Erica swore under her breath and looked at her mom. "What do we do?"

"The missile we just dodged was the second one we've been hit with. We're not sure how many more are on their way. We might have to take a little detour and take an ocean route, extending our journey quite a bit."

Catherine didn't have time to waste, and she ran to the cockpit without waiting for an answer.

"What should we do?" I asked Erica.

"There is nothing we can do," Erica said. "Sadly, we have to sit this one out, and hope that everything will run smoothly."

I stifled a yawn. I had to get up early in the morning, and I was struggling to stay awake. Erica walked out of the room, book in hand, and I curled up into the bed and pulled the covers over me.

Before I knew it, I was fast asleep.

Have a wonderful day!