Enjoy Chapter 20! This one's more of a romance.

Ben's POV

I woke up, the sun's blinding light hitting me in the eyes. I opened my eyes and that's exactly when I realized that I was in Lanai, Hawaii, on a mission alongside Erica and Mike. I remembered that I was in a hospital room, it was a Sunday morning and I have just undergone two hours of surgery the previous evening. There was an apple by my bedside, so I started eating it. There was an IV tube attached to my arm. I looked at my abdomen. There was a big, white bandage wrapped around. I couldn't feel any pain, though, which meant that I must have been given painkillers. There was the faintest trace of blood, and it didn't hurt to move around. I made myself comfortable and continued eating.

A minute later Erica threw the door open, ran to my side and wrapped me in a tight hug. I hugged her back. It was good to feel her warmth. Her icy blue eyes were filled with happy tears.

"Ben, you're alive!" she exclaimed.

"Of course I am," I told her. "How could I die?"

She smiled. "How are you?"

"I'm totally fine," I replied. "Though it may be because I've been given a dozen painkillers."

She laughed. "It's good to have you back, Ben."

"Now we've got to go back to Washington D.C.," I said. "Don't we need to fill out some kind of a report?"

Erica nodded. "I completely forgot."

"Ben!" Mike greeted, coming into the room. "Good to have you back, buddy."

I smiled. "When are we going back to Washington D.C.?"

"There's a private jet that the CIA is bringing, piloted by the one and only Jennifer," Mike replied.

Jennifer Riley was another spy like us, and she had gone to Spy School with us. She had beautiful hazel eyes and perfect brown hair dyed purple at the tips. She was just as talented as everyone else, probably a step below Erica. She was very pretty, and we shared eye colors and hair colors. People would say that Jenny and I looked like family, but in reality we simply just considered each other very close. She was very close to me, Erica, Zoe and Mike.

"She'll be here in a couple of minutes," Mike said. "Until that, we have other things to take care of."

The doctor appeared in the doorway and Erica went over to speak to him. Mike grabbed a chair and sat next to me.

"How do you feel about Zoe?" I asked him all of a sudden. His smile turned upside down. He looked down at the floor and sighed.

"Well, there's no point in thinking about it anymore, so I've decided to move on," he replied. He looked sad, but his face immediately brightened when his phone buzzed. "Oh look, Jenny's about to come."

Erica finished signing some papers and headed over to us. "Jenny's here? We have to go now."

I got out of bed, changed into my old clothes, which were washed, and we headed out to the location Jenny had texted Mike about. It wasn't far from the hospital, because there was a big field next to it. Of course, there was a private jet waiting for us. We climbed up the steps and Erica opened the door.

"Ben! Erica! Mike!" came a cheerful voice from somewhere inside. It was pretty hot outside, so it felt good to be hit by a wave of cool air from the air conditioning. 

A beautiful girl with long brown hair that stood perfectly straight appeared from inside. Jennifer Riley hadn't changed at all, other than the fact that she had grown about 10 years older. Her once purple ends were now a bright fuchsia color. Her bright brown eyes sparkled with joy and she wore her standard Jenny outfit: ripped jeans, a long sleeved crop top and a bright blue scarf that flowed in all directions.

"Jenny!" Mike exclaimed. He ran over to her and the two of them wrapped each other in a tight hug.

"Mikey! It's so good to see you after what? Like, eleven years?" she said, shaking him violently. Then she turned her attention to Erica. "Erica!"

They both shared a hug as well. "It's good to see you, Jenny," Erica replied.

"Ben!" she exclaimed happily. "It's been so long, I don't even know where to start." she ran over to me and wrapped me in a tight hug. I felt her hands wrap around my waist, but then she immediately recoiled. "What?"

I lifted the corner of my shirt to reveal the big bandage wrapped around my wound. She gasped, then covered her hand with her mouth. She almost stumbled on her shoes.

"It's a long story," I said. "Let's sit and talk."

Jenny nodded, ran to the cockpit and got the jet in the air before turning on autopilot and running back to us.

We all grabbed seats around a small, clear glass table and got comfortable. I noticed how Jenny picked a spot in between Mike and Erica, and how Mike also chose to sit with her. I always knew that Mike was Jenny's secret crush back in school.

"Okay, what has happened?" she asked. Mike, Erica and I took turns sharing the whole story since the shock wave ten years ago. She listened to the whole thing. When Erica got to the end, she gasped a long gasp.

"Oh. My. God," was all that escaped her mouth. "That's insanely crazy."

"You have no idea," I said. "We've all been through a lot."

She turned to Mike. "I'm so sorry for you. What Zoe did to you was simply horrible."

Erica got up and headed to the bathroom. Jenny caught me staring at her and poked me in the side. I yelped in pain and turned around. "What?"

She smiled. "You're staring at her with this dreamy look."

Mike nodded in agreement. "Undeniably."

"There's something I have to tell you, Ben," Jenny suddenly spoke, turning serious. "You know how everyone in school used to call us siblings?"

I nodded, unsure of where the conversation was going. "So?"

"Here's the thing," Jenny said. "I'm actually related to you."

I looked at her, suddenly taken aback. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, I'm Jennifer Ripley, not Jennifer Riley," she said. "You're my cousin, Ben."

"You sound so casual!" I exclaimed. "How long have you known this, Jenny?"
"Ever since I started my first year at spy school. I'm the daughter of-" she began, but Mike cut her off.

"Andrew and Jane Ripley!" he cut in.

"Uncle Andrew and Aunt Jane? They live in Hawaii," I said.

Jenny nodded. "Yes, but how do you know, Mike?"

Mike then explained that when he crashed, my uncle had found him, taken him home and taken care of him.

"You see," Mike said, "Andrew and Jane are also CIA agents."

I gasped. This was all too shocking. My family was a lineage of spies? My own cousin knew she was my cousin ever since she was eleven?

"What about my parents?" I asked.

"Yes, Ben. Them too," Erica said, emerging out of the bathroom.

I stared at all of them, surprised. "How come you all never told me?"

"Because we needed it to be kept a secret," Mike said. "Your parent and your uncle and aunt made me promise not to tell you until Jenny did."

"So you knew I was a spy all along? Even before you became a spy yourself?" I asked Mike, unable to hide my shock.

"Yeah," he replied. "Your parents also knew everything."

Jenny ran back to the cockpit. "We're here!" she yelled. Then the plane slightly dipped downwards and we began our descent. Mike went up to the cockpit to talk to Jenny about something, and Erica grabbed a chair and sat next to me.

"Here. Let me see it," she said pointing to my abdomen. I lifted my shirt to reveal the bandage.

The tiny spot of blood had now bloomed a bit more. I sighed, annoyed. "Ugh. I hate it."

Erica leaned forward and touched my abdomen. Whatever painkillers I had been given were wearing off, so the moment she touched it I winced with pain. She immediately took her hand out. I could slowly get the feeling of the stitches. I clutched my hand over it, but that only made the pain worse.

"Are you okay?" she asked, worried. I nodded.

"Yeah, the painkillers...they're wearing off."

The plane landed smoothly and we got out of our seats. Erica laced her fingers through mine as we exited the jet. Somehow, the feeling of Erica made the pain somewhat decrease.

Jenny and Mike got down too. Something was wrong with Jenny. She seemed uneasy, like she wanted to tell us something really bad. I turned around to face her.

"Jenny, is everything okay?" I asked.

She nodded. "Yeah, I guess."

Mike was intrigued as well. "What's going on?"

Jenny sighed, then told us something that I was least expecting to hear out of her.

I'm going to leave you hanging, because I feel like it.